When I was about 16, we sailed the boat from Australia back to New Zealand.
On this one trip, my Grandma decided to join us.
She flew down, and we soon jumped on to cross the Tasman.
Now this trip was pretty rough.
Soon after we left the harbour, Grandma went below to lie down…
Days ticked by, and there she stayed.
Now don’t be fooled. Grandma was (and still is) an incredibly resilient woman – it could have been anyone in her shoes, as you never know how the ocean passages will affect different people.
Anyway, it didn’t go well. She spent the entire trip in the one aft room – sleeping and resting, likely a little queasy, while we crossed the ocean.
Sometimes, it’s helpful to go cold turkey on something. Jump straight into a behavioural change.
Usually though, it’s not.
Typically, it’s more effective for us to look at the big journey or change, then break it down into incremental stages.
When we do this, we are basically taking “baby steps,” and laying out our path chronologically.
We are training the nervous system to adapt and overcome each stimulus, rather than get shocked in a state of uncertainty.
Now we have a positive lever for change, rather than feeling like we are getting hit by a bus in the middle of the ocean.
