Never ever forget and realize as soon as possible, that the brain is NOT a flexible a thing. We are creatures of habit and have to learn to use this to our advantage...

I’m not just referring to those annoying little things we know we do without thinking about it, but particularly those that are so much a part of us that we are possibly not even aware of it. Yes, I am talking about you, your entire character.

So where exactly am I going with this? OK, let’s start right at the beginning, at Day 1. As a newborn baby our brains are largely undeveloped. Yes, we inherit all the basic building blocks we need to get started. But pretty much beyond the basic senses and abilities the majority of humans possess, research is starting to lean towards nurture rather than nature being the largest contributor to our basic characters, which is also in line with the Freudian view. Studies conducted by separating identical twins at birth from their birth parents and raising them in different families and environments are confirming Freud’s view.

How, you may now ask, does this tie in with the initial topic relating to our habits? The brain learns and develops new skills by creating neural paths. These neural paths develop by repeating the same behavior. The more we repeat a certain action (reaction or sequence of actions) the stronger the neural path becomes in the brain. This is why the saying ‘Practice makes perfect’ rings so true. Rather than over-simplifying the concept in layman’s terms, I would much rather re-direct you to the following Wikipedia article that can provide you with more information on neural paths (or circuits as referred to here). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_neural_network

OK, so far so good. When we learn new skills we develop new neural paths. Surely that means the brain is plastic and we can, with a bit of repetition, gain new skills or change our behavior? Yes? Yes, that’s right! BUT, there’s a VERY BIG snag there that no one (at least not in the circles I move in!) seem to pay much attention or really claims awareness of. That is - and this is so important I can’t stress it enough – that the minute a neural path becomes reasonably established it also becomes SUBCONSCIOUS.

Hmm, should I explain further what the problem is? Surely it serves us to put learned tasks on so-called auto-pilot - like walking, driving, typing, talking, etc. etc. Yes, this serves us, but my point is, if the brain starts to perform certain activities in the background without us applying any conscious effort to it, where exactly is the line drawn? How much of what we do each and every day passes us by without us even having the faintest idea that we are doing it?

Just think about.

If you’re like most people, unless something drastic happens to draw your attention to what has become a largely subconscious activity, we might never realize that we are NO LONGER CHOOSING to do it. So, we know we are doing it, but we don’t know that we no longer choose to do it. Without another example, you may not realize how important this is. Let’s say, as a child (or teenager) you’ve developed certain ways of dealing with problems. At the time, when you formed the neural paths relating to these reactions or characteristics, it must have been what served you the best or the behavior you chose the most, otherwise the behavioral pattern would have never developed in the first place. If you grew up in a less than loving family setting you may have needed to develop coping mechanisms (behavior) to shelter you from abusive behavior. A child that was constantly subjected to verbal abuse may cope by becoming withdrawn in order to avoid acting in a way that may induce further abuse. At this time, limiting contact with the family definitely serves to lessen the painful abuse, but what remains one day, when the child has become an adult and still behaves in this way without even really being aware of it?

I’ve used a very simple example so that it can be followed easily but in reality most of our unconscious learned behavior are much more subtle and we have to ask ourselves – How much of who we are really serves us? How much of who we are is our choice? How much is just default behavior that we would in reality choose to change if we were aware of it?

Update on 28 Jan 08:
I've just stumbled across this article, ironically it's called The flexible brain. Have a look, you may find it interesting.