Change the world with this important pattern. It prevents self-sabotage by ensuring all parties accept the change. This ecological approach can be applied to multiple systems, such as politics. When you think “ecologically,” you consider all aspects of your outcome. If you value both, you make sure you don’t achieve X at the expense of Y. When helping a client quit smoking, for example, a client’s fear of weight gain may sabotage your efforts. You want to make sure your client is completely on board with the change. To ensure congruence, some part-work may be required to ensure your client is ready for change. The client’s fear of weight gain can be reduced by committing to healthy weight loss strategies and increasing self-acceptance.

Step 1: Obtaining an objective state. #

This pattern assumes you already have a personal problem pattern that you are working to change. To begin the eco-check, use any method that helps you gain objectivity, such as thinking like a journalist who must adhere to the facts of the situation. You may need to dissociate into the third perceptual position. From this objective frame of mind, think about your life as a whole, perhaps as if you could look down at your timeline.

Step 2: Conduct an ecology check by asking good questions. #

“What areas in my life are benefiting from having this belief/behavior?” “What areas in my life may get hurt because of it?” “Am I feeling completely assured that this is something I want to generate in my life?” “What are the specific immediate results of it? “What are the specific long-term results?” “Who else is being affected by these outcomes?”

Step 3: Making this pattern a recurring theme in your life can make it even more powerful. #

Keep these questions alive by writing them in your journal. (Do you keep a journal?) Read the questions before bed so they are fresh in your mind. You’ll get dreams, songs, words, flashes, memories, and voices… Ignore them. It’s important to notice them. Your brain loves to solve riddles. Note any answers you get. Prepare a notepad or device to collect them all.

Step 4: Evaluate. #

Once you have accumulated the answers, evaluate them. Realize that, right now, you have many valuable clues to success. What do they mean about the outcomes you appear to be headed for? Do you need to change courses?