The Universal Cycles of Change: 
patterns in Nature Translated to Human Behavior

We can learn so much about ourselves fromoff so that I can bring my life back into
observing the lives of cells, the growth of trees,balance?”
the waves in the ocean, along with other universalIt doesn’t always have to be a dramatic
and biological patterns of growth and self creation.dropping off. You can drop off something as
Nature is our greatest teacher. Since humans aresimple as reading the morning newspaper or
a part of nature and our universe is 15 billiondrinking diet coke every day. Some other
years old, it seems obvious that there must beexamples of things that may need to be dropped
some kind of connection between the patternsoff are: behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, ways of
that exist outside of ourselves and thethinking, perceptions, habits, jobs, and relationships.
unconscious patterns that reside within us.Other specific examples might include: smoking,
For the last 16 years I have been observingdrinking too much alcohol, weight, television,
nature and studying the laws of our universe withcoffee, unclear boundaries, frenetic busyness, old
the same question in mind. “How is our innerrelationships that need to be updated, a
reality directly related to our outer reality, andtroublesome employee, a toxic friendship, clutter,
how do the two affect one another?” Thisdisorganization, grudges, anger, jealousy,
has led me on a long journey that has includedunnecessary debt and unfinished business with
studying cybernetics, the sciences of complexity,people.
autopoiesis, chaos theory, morphogenetic fields, 
quantum mechanics and string theory; coupledHere is a more detailed description of the
with NLP and many other psychological anduniversal cycles of change to help you identify
spiritual models. Through this ongoing research andwhich cycle you might be in:
many long–winded discussions with myCreation—This cycle is about new beginnings.
husband, Tim Hallbom—we’ve developed aEverything has a starting point, and typically that
model to help you consciously create what youpoint begins with an idea, an action, or a blueprint.
want in life called the universal cycles of change.Some examples of this include starting a business,
The universal cycles of change are an ongoinghaving a baby, investing in your first stock or
process that’s been happening in our universefund, creating an idea for a book or a painting,
for about 15 billion years, so it is a really oldbuilding your first house, getting married, buying a
model. We have observed seven universal cyclesnew car, planting the seeds for a vegetable
of change that occur in all living systems such asgarden, or the Big Bang (the beginning of our
plants, trees, stars, cells, and animals. You can alsouniverse as we know it).
see these same cycles occurring in most nonlivingGrowth—When a system begins to grow and
systems such as cars, houses, computers, anddevelop, it also becomes “self organizing.”
the economy.What this means is that the initial creation begins
The universal cycles of change can also be foundto take shape or form. New patterns of behavior
within all aspects of human life and behavior. Theystart to develop, and the system
happen in marriages, in business, with health, withself–organizes itself around the original creation.
families, with various states of mind and so on.For example, a new business develops a
We go through these cycles every day andwonderful marketing plan, the tock that you've
every year of our life. Being aware of theseinvested in begins to rise in price, the small tree
cycles can help us to consciously create the kindsthat you've planted shows signs of growth, you
of life experiences that we want, and to bringinstall fancy hubcaps and new seat covers in your
forth the reality of our choice. The people who docar, or your child speaks its first words and takes
well in life are naturally attuned to these cycles ofher first steps.
change.Complexity to Maturity—As a system begins
Here is a brief description of the seven universalto take shape and form through continued
cycles of change that have been identified (Agrowth, it becomes more complex to the point
more detailed description of these cycles iswhere it reaches a “steady state.” A
provided later in the article):system operates at its best when it is in a
 Creation–This cycle is about new beginnings.steady state. Some examples of a steady state
All systems must have a starting point of someare when things are going exceptionally well in
kind.your job, when an athlete enters into the zone,
Growth–when a living system begins to growwhen the tree that you have planted is sprouting
and develop, it becomes “self organizing.”beautiful green leaves, when your marriage is
Complexity to Maturity–As a system beginsgoing incredibly well, the car that you bought is
to take shape and form through continuedrunning great, the stock that you have invested in
growth, it becomes more complex to the pointhas made a big jump in the right direction, or
where it reaches what we call a “steadywhen you're feeling good about yourself and
state. “A system operates at its best when iteverything in your life.
is in a steady state.Turbulence–Feedback—When the system
Turbulence–When the system becomes toobecomes too complex in its growth and
complex in its growth, problems begin to developdevelopment, problems begin to develop and
and turbulence sets in. Turbulence is consideredturbulence sets is. Turbulence is considered
feedback from the environment that thefeedback from the environment that the
system's complex state can no longer besystem's complex state can no longer be
supported. Something has to shift for it to go tosupported—and that something has to be
the next level of creation and growth. If this shiftreorganized, changed, or dropped off. For
does not occur, then chaos will set in.example, you may have hired someone to work
Chaos–This is when the system begins to fallfor you and that person isn't working out, you
apart because it has become too complex, andmay start noticing some serious communication
chaos sets it. The system can no longer hold it allproblems in your marriage that are effecting your
together.individual health and well–being, the leaves on
Droppings Off–Once chaos has set in, therethe tree that you planted begin to change color,
must be some kind of a letting go or dropping offyou may have invested in a stock and it begins
to bring the system back into balance.to drop, you develop a minor physical symptom
Meditation and Dormancy– This is the finalthat is distracting, you notice signs of depression
cycle in which the ystem regains its balance,or dissatisfaction in your life, or your car starts
which will allow it to recycle back up into…making funny little sounds.
Creation. The system now has less mass, yetChaos—This is when the system completely
more energy because it contains all the learningsfalls apart and chaos sets in. For example, the
from the previous cycles.Everything in ourleaves on the tree turn brown and shrivel up, the
universe evolves and grows, and has been doingtroublesome employee acts out to the point
so for billions of years. Part of this naturalwhere the overall welfare of the business is
evolutionary process includes going throughthreatened, the stock that you bought takes a
different states of change. Let's take a tree forhuge drop, your marriage is completely falling
example, since its the easiest metaphor I'veapart, you get seriously ill, or the funny sound
found to describe the universal cycles of change.that your car was making turns into a loud
The first cycle that a tree goes through is that ofchoking sound and grey–blue smoke starts
creation, which happens when a seed getsblowing out the tail pipe.
planted. Then the tree grows—given that it hasDroppings Off and Reorganization—Sometimes
been provided with enough water and sunshine tolife becomes so complex that chaos sets in and
grow. Over time the tree reaches a steady stateyou have to drop off something to help the
of maturity in which all of its leaves havesystem regain its overall balance. For example,
blossomed with complete beauty. Then thewhen the snake sheds its skin or the leaves drop
autumn season sets in; the leaves begin tooff the tree—these are considered to be
change color. They turn brown and drop off todroppings off. Even having to replace a part on
the ground. After this happens, the tree stands inyour car is a form of dropping off or a form of
dormancy without any leaves. But then springreorganization. In order to move forward through
comes around, the tree sprouts new leaves anda difficult life challenge you often need to let go of
the whole process of creation happens again.a limiting belief, a dysfunctional relationship, change
Because all living systems get too complex in theira behavior, or reorganize how you view the
growth and development, they must have someworld; thus making the space in your life to
kind of a dropping off to regain their balance.create something wonderfully new. All life forms in
Trees do this all the time with their leaves. Wethis universe such as trees, snakes, and even
can learn a lot by modelling trees. Have you everstars allow for this natural dropping off cycle to
been walking by a tree and its leaves are fallingoccur; as well as nonliving forms such as
off. And all of a sudden you hear the tree cryingcomputers with animated trash bins. The purpose
out, “Pleeeease, don't let my leaves fallof the trash bin is to get rid of extra information
off!” This never happens. The tree hason the hard drive because it takes up too much
mastered the art of dropping off and recyclingspace. Human beings are the only ones that resist
back up to creation. Snakes are the same waythese natural cycles of change.
when they shed their skin. I have never know ofMeditation and Dormancy—The way a system
a snake to resist the process. Even mostregains its balance is to drop something off. Then
computers have trash bins to drop off theit can rejuvenate itself during the dormancy
excess information that can slow down their hardphase, thus allowing itself to recycle back up to a
drive, which thus allows for the computer tonew evolutionary level of creation. Just as the
operate more quickly and creatively.tree stands without leaves in the brisk cold
Interestingly, there is only one living system thatwinter, we sometimes need to go into a place of
does not allow itself to naturally go through this 15meditation and inner silence. It might be
billion year old process of change. This sameuncomfortable for a while, but it can be very
system allows itself to stay stuck in turbulencehealing to quiet one's mind or to lay low for a
and chaos for extended periods of time. Thiswhile. Before you can move forward, you need
same system often resists dropping off whatto give yourself plenty of being time to renew
needs to be dropped off. Can you guess whichand rejuvenate. Once you've done this, you can
system it is?become creative again. You will have dropped off
Human beings of course.what was holding you back. Yet you'll still have all
People represent the only living systems that willthe knowledge and wisdom that was gained from
allow themselves to stay stuck in turbulence andthe whole experience. This sets the tone for a
chaos. They are the only living systems that willwhole new cycle of creativity and growth.
not drop off whatever needs to be dropped offMy husband, Tim, and I have found that it is
in their life. We see this resistance happening a lotuseful for people to look at the different areas of
in relationships, career, and health.their life, and to identify where they are in the
For example, my husband, Tim, and I wereuniversal cycles of change. For example, there
teaching a class in Australia last year, when a manwas a woman attending a WealthyMind™
in the group shared an amazing realization that heseminar in Dallas, Texas last November, who took
had about the universal cycles of change and howherself through the universal cycles of change
they related to him. This man had a teenagemodel. In doing so, she discovered that there
daughter who he had been unable towere three primary areas in her life that were in
communicate with for several years. Aftertotal chaos. These areas included her job, her
learning about the universal cycles of change, hemarriage, and her health. She had been very
raised his hand and said,unhappy in her marriage for over five years and
“I finally understand why I have been havingtried everything possible to make it work. She
so many problems with my 17 year old daughter.and her husband hadn't slept in the same
In my mind I still think of her as a little child. I ambedroom for over three years. She had also
now realizing that I need to ‘drop off’ mybecome extremely unhappy with her job, and
perception of her as a child and start treating herwas 40 pounds overweight. She decided that she
like a young adult. It makes complete sense toneeded to drop off her marriage, her job, and the
me why there has been so much turbulence andextra 40 pounds of weight that she was carrying.
chaos in our relationship over the last couple ofThis same woman reappeared four months later
years.”at our WealthyMindTM Program in Omaha,
Another woman who attended our training inNebraska. She had lost 32 pounds and looked
London, England, told me of an amazingfantastic. I asked her how her life was going. She
experience that she had with her children and thesaid that she had asked her husband for a
universal cycles of change model. “Kris, I justdivorce and was in the middle of transitioning out
have to tell you about the funniest thing thatof her old job and starting a new business. She
happened to me last night. After I learned thehad also dropped off some of her limiting beliefs
universal cycles of change model, I made thearound money, which had given her the courage
decision that I needed to ‘drop off’ theto start a new business. She admitted that all of
co–dependent relationship that I have with mythese changes had created some chaos in her life,
five adult children.” she said with excitement.yet she was happier than she had ever been and
“Even though my children are grown up, theywas looking forward to her new adventure.
are all so needy. I felt like my life was all aboutWe certainly don’t recommend dropping off a
them and there was no room for me. On myrelationship or a job. This is a last resort. We
drive home last night, I set the intent to releasealways encourage our students and clients to
the co–dependence that has been keeping mestart off by trying to drop an attitude, a
enmeshed with my children for so many years.perception, or any behaviors and beliefs that are
After I got home, all ‘chaos’ broke loose.related to their overall disharmony. If dropping
One by one, each child phoned me with somethose things off doesn’t work, then perhaps
major crisis. One of my children’s car brokethey will need to drop off the relationship or job.
down, the other had just broken up with aEspecially if it is highly dysfunctional, toxic, or
boyfriend, another was having a bad day, and soabusive. Fortunately, we have NLP as a resource
on. The phone just kept ringing off the hook withto help people transition through these universal
their problems. I told each child one by one thatcycles of change.
they were responsible for themselves from nowIn the case of the man who was having problems
on and that they will need to solve their ownwith his teenage daughter, it's not like he could
problems,” she said. At this point in the story,just “drop off” the relationship with his
she was glowing as she continued to say, “Ichild. His only option was to reorganize who he
just wanted to tell you that today is the beginningwas within the context of the relationship. As
of the rest of my life. I am no longersoon as he stopped treating her like a little girl,
co–dependent with my children and I can haveand started treating her like an adult, their
my life back! I am going to go back to school andrelationship got better. The magic in what he did
I am also going to start painting again, and doingwith his daughter can be found within the
the kinds of things that make me happy. I amstructure of his internal experience. He had an
going to start living my life for me now, insteadinternal representation of her being a little girl.
of for everyone else.”When he shifted that representation to her being
So often people are afraid to make changes,an adult, then she started acting like an adult. By
because they are worried about throwing theirdoing this, he was able to create an entirely new
lives into turbulence and chaos. In the case of theexperience with his daughter.
English woman, she was worried that her grownWhat happened with the man and his daughter
children would feel resentment towards her if sheleads me back to the original question that I
was not always fully present for them. Instead ofposed earlier in this article. “How is our inner
being present for her children, she ended upreality directly related to our outer reality, and
resenting them because she wasn’t getting tohow do the two affect one another?”
live the life she wanted. Once she released herOur outer reality is a reflection of our inner reality.
children from the co–dependent bonds ofWhat nature can do for us—is to serve as a
enmeshment, she was able to evolve into a newperfect model for creating the life we want, as
way of interacting with her children. And in doingwell as evolving to higher levels of personal and
so, she found that she could be more present forspiritual fulfillment. The answers to creating what
her children because she felt more spirituallywe want in life can be found by becoming aware
fulfilled in her life.of the universal cycles of change and applying
As mentioned earlier, the universal cycles ofthem to all the various life areas. There is no
change influence all the areas of our lives. Thereason why we can't harness the same kind of
primary life areas that they effect are:creative potential that exists within the seed of a
* Romance and Love plant or a star in our galaxy.
* CareerBarbara Walters was interviewing
* Healthmulti–billionaire Bill Gates, and asked him,
* Family“Now that you're the richest man in the world
* Money Mattersand you can have anything you desire, what
* Friendsmore could you possibly want?” Gates
* Spiritualityreplied, “To never stop changing. Whatever I
* Your Present State of Minddo today, will be considered history tomorrow. I
When you assess each area of your life, whichhave to make sure that I never stop creating,
universal cycle of change are you experiencing inand that I am always changing."
that context? If any of your areas are inSuggested Reading:
turbulence or chaos, you may want to ask 
yourself,A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber
“What are some things that I need to dropComplexity by M.