Anyone who has ever made and – then subsequently broken – a New Year’s resolution to exercise more can appreciate the trickiness of behaviour change. Making a lasting change in behaviour is seldom a straightforward process. It frequently involves a substantial commitment of time, effort as well as emotion.
Behaviour change is extremely relevant for your health and performance. This is because more than 50% of illnesses are triggered by human behaviour. If you find yourself battling with change, don’t worry.
The process of altering one’s behaviours is much more complex than individuals originally thought. One of the key challenges seems to be overestimating the significance of education as well as evidence in behaviour change. Often, people don’t change their behaviour, even though they may know that they should and why they should.
No-One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Whether you would like to lose weight, exercise more, or accomplish another goal, there is no single solution which works for everyone. You might need to try out a number of different separate techniques, which you arrive at through a course of trial and error, in order to achieve your exercise goal.
It’s through this period that a lot of different people become discouraged and then give up on their behaviour-change goals. The keys to achieving and maintaining your exercise goals are to try new techniques and find ways in order to remain motivated.
Change might not come simply however psychologists have developed effective ways to assist people with changing their behaviour. Therapists, physicians as well as teachers make use of these techniques. Researchers have also proffered theories to explain how change takes place. Understanding the different elements of change, the stages of change as well as ways to work through each stage may help you achieve your goals.
The Stages Of Behaviour Change
Precontemplation
This is the stage at which there is no intention to change behaviour in the foreseeable future. Many people in this stage are unaware or under-aware of their problems. Some people call this phase “denial.”
Contemplation
This is the stage in which individuals are aware that a problem exists and are genuinely thinking about conquering it but have not yet made a commitment to take action. Many individuals in this stage can be described as ambivalent. For example, they want to improve their blood sugar however are not yet ready to cut back on eating sweets.
Preparation
The Preparation Stage may be considered the information gathering and planning stage. The preparation stage is the most important. A total of 50% of the people who attempt behaviour change – and skip this stage – will relapse within 21 days.
Action
Action is the stage in which people modify their behaviour, experiences or environment in order to conquer their problems. Action entails the most overt behavioural changes and necessitates considerable commitment of time as well as energy. During the action stage, one implements the plans developed and information gathered in the preparation stage.
Maintenance
Maintenance is the stage in which people do the work in order to prevent relapse and also consolidate the gains attained during action.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
Ensuring people are able to effect lasting behavioural change is one of the jobs of a life coach. If this sounds as if it could interest you, why not check out our Life Coaching Certification and become a world-class life coach.
