Are You Ready for Change? A Step-by-Step Guide on Changing habits, behaviors and addictions How many times have you said to yourself: “I’m going to change ______ about myself” There are several things that could fill that blank and we all have behaviors, habits or addictions that we want to change. It may be easy to say you want to change, but when it comes down to truly changing, it can be very challenging. Did you know that most people actually change when it is for themselves and not for anyone else. For example, if your spouse wants you to lose weight, it’s not as good as a motivator as if you wanted to lose weight for yourself. Change is not an all-or-nothing process, it occurs in stages. More than 95% of people who successfully quit smoking do so only after a series of setbacks and relapses. In most cases, change comes in a spiral pattern, not a straight line (two steps forward, one step back). Relapses aren’t failures but setbacks, which are a part of learning how to change. Step-by-Step Change Once you have decided that you are really ready to change and that it is for the right reasons, your next task is to write down a PLAN. Follow these guidelines Be Specific It is important to know exactly what you want your outcome to be. For example if your plan is to get more exercise, specify how often you’ll exercise, the typed of exercise, where you’ll do it and for how long. Example plan: Beginning next Monday, I’ll take fast walks around the neighborhood for 20 minutes twice a week, and on Saturdays I’ll swim 15 laps at the city pool. A written action plan makes your intentions clear and real Break your goal into small, do-able steps If your goal is to lose 50 pounds it is unrealistic and disappointing if you want to lose 50 pounds in a month. Instead plan first o lose ten percent of your weight to start with (if you are 200 pounds, your first goal should be to lose 20 pounds.) Plan to accomplish this goal by starting specific exercise and diet intervention goals. Thinking and doing are two separate things. You can think about losing weight but actually doing something about it is what will make the weight come off. Make sure your plan is realistic Picture a scale from one to ten, with ten representing your final goal or achievement (e.g. riding 10 miles on your bike) Decide which number on that scale represents your current level toward that final goal. What would it take to move just one notch higher on that scale? Too often we want to move from a “three” to a “ten” in one step. Planning to move up only one number at a time sets you up for success. There’s time to take little steps one notch at a time. Apply the confidence test Ask yourself if you are at least 70% certain that you can accomplish your goal within the planned time frame. If you’re not that confident, lower your goal until you are. If you are 100% confident, then you might want to revise the goal upward to make it more challenging. Write it down Make a contract with yourself that you are satisfied with. Write the contract down, and post it where you’ll see it every day. Each day you can check your progress. Remember, a successful plan or contract includes: Something you want Reasonable changes that you can accomplish in one or two weeks Specific actions (What? How much? When? How often?) Confidence between 70-85% that you can achieve your short-term goal Reference: All information from The Healthy Mind Healthy Body Handbook by David S. Sobel, MD and Robert Ornstein, PhD. Sample Contract For the week of ___________________________ What activity or action are you going to do?______________________________ How much are you going to do?____________________________ When are you going to do it?_____________________________ How confident are you that you will compete your contract and goal (remember 70-85% is realistic) Not at all 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100% Totally Confident Your signature______________________________ Date _____________________