The 5 Stages of Change
IN THIS POST I WILL TALK ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVE CHANGE, CHANGES THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED AND UNDERGONE PERSONALLY, AND THE 5 STAGES OF CHANGE.
Firstly though, what do I mean when I talk about change? In relation to health and fitness I’m talking about changing habits, thinking differently and overcoming obstacles and barriers that hold you back. It’s about making the necessary changes to become a healthier, stronger, fitter and more positive person, full of confidence. All of these things can be achieved and improved upon through changing your mind set. Prioritising your own personal health and fitness, and viewing yourself how you’d like others to see you.
For me personally, I would definitely have to say the biggest change come about after finishing my personal training course, and then getting into the industry. In my teens I was extremely negative and had low self-esteem. From 19 onwards, after I began training in the gym, I gained some confidence and created some better habits. The process of my change definitely started there, but I still had a long way to go. I still ate poorly, spent loads on supplements that did nothing, and going out drinking every weekend wouldn’t have helped either. I got comfortable in jobs that I had no real future in and that definitely didn’t help my outlook on life. It wasn’t until finally, at 25, I decided what I wanted to do with my life and completed my Cert III and IV in Fitness. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and the more I learnt and applied into my own life the better everything became. Changing my eating habits not only made me feel better, it made my training more efficient. Knowing correct training methods, in addition to eating better, produced better results. With greater results I gained more confidence and self-esteem – and knowing that I needed to be motivating and inspiring to others so they could achieve results – this made me want to keep improving further.
Change didn’t happen over-night, it took years. I had to learn what the right and wrong things to do were. Then I had to implement them into my life, making small gradual changes and developing positive habits. Knowledge is great, but if you don’t take action then it’s useless knowledge. Taking action is great, but without the right knowledge then you might be wasting your time with pointless actions. I’m not talking about being intelligent, but knowing the correct steps to take in order to achieve your goals, and then doing them consistently.
Ultimately you have to be mentally prepared for change. Just wanting to look good or “lose weight” (as is the most common goal I hear) isn’t enough majority of the time. People that want to start training but don’t want to change their eating habits or don’t want to quit smoking typically don’t achieve results. The same can be said for people that want to go on ridiculous diets because some celebrity told them they’d lose weight, but they don’t want to put any hard work into exercising or at least be more active. Change needs to be gradual, consistent and above all, needs to be holistic. If you want a bangin’ body but don’t want to change all the negative things that are impeding you, then the simple fact of the matter is you won’t get it. Identifying and overcoming barriers is an important part of change. Why are you; Missing training sessions? Missing meals? Eating too much? Snacking on junk throughout the day? Not drinking enough water? Not getting enough sleep? All these things are going to negatively impact your results, so you need to think about why you are doing/not doing these things and find a solution. If you want to change your health/fitness/body composition then it has to be made a priority in your life. I’ve found a very common obstacle for mums is that they put everything and everyone else before themselves. Sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish because without your health, what good are you to your children, and what kind of example are you setting? Time is probably the most common obstacle for people, other than their love of sweets, so planning and organizing needs to happen. Maybe you have to wake up earlier, maybe you have to meal prep, whatever it is if you can’t break through your barrier, then you have to find a way around it.
HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER:
– Identify powerful enough reasons to change behaviour. You have to find your ‘WHY’. Dig deep and find something within that triggers an emotional response. An extreme example would be someone being told by their doctor that if they don’t change their lifestyle they are going to die. If that isn’t a powerful enough reason to change then I doubt anything is, but you see what I’m getting at. Wanting to lose weight isn’t enough, you have to dig deeper than that, and then you will really be ready to start changing.
– Believe in yourself and be passionate about your goal. If you don’t believe in yourself then how do you expect others to? Having a positive circle of influence is important, people to push you and motivate you. However it’s not enough if you truly don’t believe within yourself that you can achieve your goals. A simple trick to begin changing your mind set to positive is start sentences with “I Can”, or “I Will” as opposed to “I’ll Try”, or “Maybe”. If you do this regularly enough you will slowly change your mind set and will make fewer excuses for things. Be confident that with a good support network, the right knowledge, and the necessary actions, you can and will achieve your goals.
– Believe the new behaviour is important and worthwhile, and that the pros of changing far outweigh the cons. Understand that the many rewards and benefits of exercise and good nutrition will greatly exceed the effort required. Changing your lifestyle is by no means easy, especially the older you are and longer you have adopted bad habits. Knowing that you will look and feel great, potentially better then you ever have, definitely makes it all worth it in the end. Yes you will have to work hard and make sacrifices, but as a result you’ll have more energy, have a better outlook on life and be proud of the body you have earned in the end.
– Know that changing your lifestyle is important, beneficial and achievable. Not only will you more than likely prolong your life and get sick less often, you will be setting an example for your loved ones. The positive changes you make may very well have an impact on someone else – in particular your children – and with child obesity on the rise, a positive role model is extremely important. With majority of my business being based on referrals, it’s evident that the changes you make and the results you achieve will have positive effects on those around you. If someone they know has made changes and seen results, then it makes it seem all the more achievable for themselves.
– Reminder of old behaviour. As much as people may hate photo’s at the time, looking back and seeing yourself 5/10/20kg heavier justifies the changes you made and the need not to go backwards. Trying on clothes you wore regularly that are now way too big is another reminder of how far you’ve come. Fitness testing is for that same purpose. You might not necessarily care if you can run faster or do more push ups, but looking at where you started and knowing what you can do now is extremely satisfying and should help keep you motivated to further progress.
To wrap this up, below are the 5 stages of change. Reading through this, I’m sure many of you can relate and might have gone through these stages several times in different parts of your life; I know I have! Have a think about what stage you think you might be at in regards to your health and fitness, and what you need to do in order to move on to the next stage. Alternatively, consider why you might be stuck at a certain stage and what obstacles need to be overcome.
Stages of change:
1. Pre- contemplation
– Not thinking about change
– May be resigned to their fate
– May feel immune to any dangers
– In denial and does not believe it applies to them
– Tried before and now simply gives up.
2. Contemplation
– Weighing up benefits and costs of proposed change
– Assess barriers to change (time, expense, hassle, fear)
– Undecided especially when giving up a behaviour they enjoy
– Can feel a sense of loss despite perceived gain
– Inquiring about who can help them change.
3. Preparation
– Prepares to make a specific change which involves finding time, having the right gear and resources.
– May experiment with small changes as their determination increases
– Taking a definitive action to change; actually doing it.
– Praise essential at this stage.
– Persistence at the new behaviour is necessary to move onto the next stage.
4. Maintenance
– Maintaining new behaviour over time
– Usually 6 months is considered a reasonable time for new habits to develop
– Not unusual for recycling through the stages several times before the behaviour truly becomes established.
5. Relapse
– Emphasise that this is a normal part of the process of change as any perceived discouragement may result in giving up all together.
– May feel demoralized, disappointed, angry with self or embarrassed.
– Can try to avoid others associated with new behaviour.
– Important to discuss strategies to prevent relapse.
