Change is hard. That much is certain. When faced with wanting (or having) to change a health behavior, the more informed you are, the more clear you can be on emerging feelings as the process of change begins to nudge you towards your best self. If you find yourself curious about beginning a regular exercise program, losing weight, or managing cholesterol/blood pressure, here are some questions to ask:
- Why do I want to change this behavior? Or what are the benefits/pros to change?
- Why shouldn’t I try to change this behavior? Or what are the cons to change? What are the benefits to staying the same?
- Do my pros outweigh my cons?
- What will it take for me to overcome my cons? Or what are my strategies to overcome my cons?
To set ourselves up for success, our pros need to outweigh our cons. We need to ask ourselves what will it take to have more pros than cons? Behavior change is not a one step process but rather a staged process. If we know where we are in the process, we can address our needs for that particular phase which, in turn, will help us feel successful. Success builds upon itself.
It takes 21 days to develop a new habit and 21 months to develop a new lifestyle. We move from not thinking about change, to thinking about it, to planning, to doing and then to continue doing. This can be why so many people start a diet or begin an exercise program only to realize that they started doing too much too soon. They simply weren’t ready ready for that level of comittment. Failure!
A certified health and wellness coach can help figure out where you are in the change process. A coach will guide you through the process of defining what you want for yourself. How do you see yourself living your best life? What does that picture look like? Everyone has the capacity for change; we just need some help with the steps to get there.
Let’s get going!
photo credit: will biscuits via photopin cc