Going from Wanting to Change to DOING It: Part 3 (Preparation)

You made it to the final installment of our 3-part series: Going from Wanting to Change to DOING It!This series exists to take you from “can’t” to “can” to action. In it, I’ll educate you on the 3 major stages of resistance from The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TM), and give you specific recommendations for whichever stage of resistance you’re in right now. Click here to read all about TM in Part 1 of the series.We're at the last stage of resistance today, and the tricky thing is: it might not feel like resistance at this point. It's easy to get caught in this stage (especially if you're a perfectionist!).We're covering the Preparation stage today. Let's go ahead and dive in.

Preparation

This is where the magic starts to happen. The Preparation stage is the one in which you are determined to change your behavior in the immediate future. Woohoo!You’re not scot free when you hit this stage, though. You’ve still gotta make sure you actually get to the Action Stage. To ensure your leveling-up, take a look at what we recommend.

Get Doing

To make it through this stage into the Action Stage takes a commitment to examining all possible paths to the goal, planning it out and making sure that any obstacles are planned for (as much as one possibly can). Let’s cover how you can apply all of these elements to your own journey and flip your Mental Optics from hesitancy to confidence:

Consider all possible paths:

If you’ve previously tried to change before and it didn’t work, try something new! There are so many ways to change your behavior. Beware of any that go too far too fast. Slow and steady is the name of the game!

Plan it out:

To go through with change, you've gotta have a plan. If you’re trying to move your body more, when exactly will you make time to do it? If you want to eat healthier, what will you buy at the grocery store? Making a plan of action can be extremely helpful when it comes to confidence and follow through. Going in without a plan is just asking for life to get in the way!Plus, you wanna reality-check your plans. Are you expecting perfection from yourself? For instance, if your goal is to move more because you're not moving at all right now, and you set your initial goal at doing 5 workouts per week, that's not realistic. It's too hard, too fast and it will most likely lead you to give up when you inevitably burn out (or get injured - yikes!).Start slow with your plans. The key to it is to leave wanting to do more. Don't exhaust yourself at the beginning. Remember that any step forward is more than you were doing before!

Prepare for obstacles:

While you can’t possibly know what might get in the way of your commitment to change, you can prepare for the things that are most likely to happen. If you’re trying to move your body more often and you want to replace happy hour with a trip to the gym, prepare yourself for how you’re going to handle your friends or coworkers who expect you to do as you’ve always done. If you’re trying to eat healthier, preparing for trips home to see your family is a must-do. How will you turn down food you don’t want to eat (or eat food you do want to eat even if a family member says something hurtful)? Think of as many scenarios that are likely to happen as you can, but keep yourself from spiraling into “what if” territory. It’s good to be prepared, but it’s detrimental to spiral through all the pitfalls that might befall you that aren’t likely to happen.The key to getting your mind in the right space for action is to do as this stage tells you to: prepare. Most of us feel safest to take action when we plan our process out and look at obstacles that might come our way. Spend some time doing what we recommend above, and you’ll be ready to put the pedal to the medal in no time!

And because I can't say it enough...

I put this in the Part 1 and Part 2, but here it is again: The danger in reading about how we go about change is to overanalyze it or make assumptions about your self worth from it. The purpose of this series is neither of those things.

The purpose of this series is to educate you so that you can release resistance when the timing’s right.

Here’s what you’re not allowed to do when you read this series:

beat yourself up
tell yourself you can’t
decide that because you’re in one of these stages, you’re flawed

Every single one of us goes through these stages. It’s not a matter of choosing to be ready. Sometimes it’s just a matter of your willingness levels, and those sometimes take kindness and patience to rise.I hope this series helped you understand better any resistance you're feeling to change, and gives you the tools to take action when the timing's right.The truth is you've got everything it takes. There's nothing "wrong" with you if you feel this resistance - we all do at one time or another! Use these tools and when the willingness comes, so will action.Got any questions about change? Leave 'em in the comments below or tweet at me!Love,Amysources: https://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-change/, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-truth-about-exercise-addiction/201608/why-is-change-so-hard