In the first eight stages of the LIONS program, we focused on inner work—discovering and deconstructing your existing thought processes so you could then rebuild your mental maps. In Stage 9, we now shift into outer work, where you begin to embody those meaningful changes.

Enacting change can be one of the most difficult stages of the transformation process because of the way our brains work. Once we’ve learned a new behaviour—like learning to drive a car—the brain transfers that behaviour from our working memory to our long-term memory, freeing up the working memory to take on new learning. 

Thus, the behaviours that we’ve done for a long time get stored in our subconscious, so that we can execute them without expending a lot of mental effort. That’s why it’s easy for you to drive your car, for example, without even really thinking about it anymore. “Driving a car” is now stored in your long-term memory. 

When you learn something new, however, it creates hard work for the brain because it now has to construct new connections between neurons. As you practise a new habit or behaviour, you will initially feel a temptation to go back to doing things the old way, because it is so much easier and more comfortable for you. 

That’s why, during Stage 9, you’ll engage with a variety of role-play techniques, so you can consistently practise your new behaviours until they become stored in your subconscious. 

Once your learning becomes cemented in your long-term memory, your new behaviours will feel natural and instinctive, and you will achieve real and lasting change in your habits.