Britney Spears' Hair - is it Personal Growth?

As I write this article the world is waiting to find out why Britney spears has shaved her head and let her long, long locks drop to the floor. Although I don't have a way of reading her mind or have an insight of Britney spears' reasoning for what is being perceived by the media and the public as an indication of her instability; I can express my opinion on how something as simple as shearing off ones hair can be a greatly needed spark to sustain a lasting change within oneself.

Our identity is dependant on our appearance and contributes to what we accomplish in life or not may the case be!

Behind almost every lasting change in a person you will find an identity alteration. Only a minority of people have the tenacity needed to uphold changes within their behavior without an identity shift of some kind.

Just take the new inductees of the armed forces for example.

When the army shaves off a new recruit's hair, it's shaving a part of their old identity - this to be able to reshape theses young men and women. They no longer look like an individual anymore; they all look the same, they're all in affect are starting at the same point. It is much easier for the army to rebuild and mold their beliefs to serve as an obedient soldier; as opposed to struggling with different identities.

Women who undergo chemotherapy say that losing their hair is the worst part of the treatment; this is because a person's hairstyle is literally merged with them; it's their identity. Taking away their hair is taking away a part of them.

This also explains why men spend so much money on hair products to prevent the loss of their hair rather than depositing the money into their retirement account.

As strange as this might sound, if your ultimate goal is to lose weight, don't focus on forcing yourself to exercise more and eat less, you should become that person first. The sort of person who only eats healthy foods and someone that couldn't even imagine a day without exercise! If you begin to adopt these concepts of eating healthily naturally and exercising regularly, you will find that this will become a part of you - a second nature.

You might say "How do you do that"?

Take actors for an example, when they prepare for a role for an upcoming film, actors and actresses will put themselves directly into their characters shoes. So much so in fact that some have a problem "breaking character" and need debriefings to get themselves back when the film has finished. What would happen if they carried on acting as if they were that character?

The time would come when they would find that they would have crossed the point of being themselves, they wouldn't be able to indentify with the person they were before.

A new identity brings new ways of thinking, new ways of behaving and eventually different consequences.

Will the consequences of Britney spears shearing off her hair be to her advantage?

Time will tell, we'll just have to wait and see. One thing is for sure though; with such an extreme alteration in her look she will undoubtedly encounter new feelings, thoughts and as a result new behaviors.

On a final note: Don't be put off by the word "pretending" or "acting" as a way of changing your identity. Because as I am sure you well remember when you were in school; you wanted to be accepted into a certain group.

Whether it be the "cool" crowd or the "geeky" crowd you felt comfortable in, there were certain things that the people in these crowds did and said, and for you to be accepted you also began to say and do those things.

At first you were acting or pretending but after time you no longer had to make those decisions - they just happened. It was second nature to you; these attributes were then part of your identity.

Pursue the inner voice and develop the identity that you want, you can achieve any goal you choose!