“I’ll start at the first of the year.. “ “I’ll start Monday.” “I’m going to start on my birthday.” “I’m happy with my weight. People in my family are just big-boned.” I’m sure you have heard, or uttered these same statements as you pondered a lifestyle change, or significant decision. These statements could be considered a form of procrastination, but I see them as different stages of readiness.
Stages of Readiness is not a new term, or anything that I cooked up on my own. James O. Prochaska, the psychologist who identified the cycle, recognized each stage as a means of utilizing different strategies or tools. I have borrowed the following from his book, Changing for Good.
Precontemplation
"People at this stage usually have no intention of changing their behavior, and typically deny having a problem. Precontemplators resist change. They may change if there is enough constant external pressure, but once the pressure is removed, they quickly revert. Precontemplators are often demoralized and don't want to think about their problem because they feel that the situation is hopeless. "There is certain comfort in recognizing that demoralization is a natural feeling that accompanies this stage-and in realizing that if you take yourself systematically through all the stages of change, you can change."
Contemplation
"I want to stop feeling so stuck. Those simple words are typical of contemplators. In the contemplation stage, people acknowledge that they have a problem and begin to think seriously about solving it. Contemplators struggle to understand their problem, see its causes, and begin to wonder about possible solutions."
Preparation
Most people in the preparation stage are planning to make changes within the next month. An important first step is to make their intention public. "But although those in the preparation stage are committed to action, and may appear ready, they have not necessarily resolved their ambivalence. They may still need to convince themselves that this is the best step."
Action
"The action stage is the one in which people most overtly modify their behavior and surroundings. They stop smoking, remove all desserts from the house, pour the last beer down the drain, or confront their fears. In short, they make the move for which they have been preparing.
Maintenance
In the maintenance stage, you consolidate the gains you made in the action stage and work to prevent relapses.
This stage is a long, ongoing, and critically important process. We all know someone who lost many pounds on a diet, but regained them all in a few months. Successful maintenance requires active alertness.
Termination
The termination stage is the ultimate goal. Here, your former addiction or problem will no longer present any temptation or threat. You will not need to make any further effort and will exit the cycle of change.
So, one of the first thing an individual needs to do is assess his stage of readiness. If, deep down, you really don’t want to change, he will be spinning his wheels as he struggles to alter behavior. Remember in one of my first postings, I said it was funny that 6 or 9 months after I trained with someone, I would see them, and they had finally lost weight ,or gotten healthier? Well, I believe now that when they were working out with me, they were not in the stage of readiness that would have allowed them to achieve their goals. Something or some event came along in those intervening months and became the catalyst that wasn’t present 6 months before. At that point, they could now start to put into practice the workout concepts they had learned with me earlier. The difference, however, is that they had started incorporating the nutrition portion of their lifestyle change into the formula.
I would love to take credit for their success stories, but I really can’t. I might have been an instigator, or a coach, or possibly even a motivating factor, but ultimately the individual (the Y.O.U. factor, if you will) was what drove the little engine up the mountain (I think I can, I think I can…). It all comes down to what is inside, and identifying your motivations and catalysts. Good luck.
Next up: How to be S.M.A.R.T.
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