Congratulations on taking the first step towards a balanced life. There are many steps to change and different levels of preparedness of change. We all go through these steps and levels as we change but yet they look completely different for each person. There are 6 different levels of change; pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse.
Pre-contemplation stage is where you aren’t ready to take steps to change a behavior or you do not see that the behavior is affecting your life. For example, you know that you should quit smoking but you do not see where smoking is affecting your health.
Contemplation stage is where you see that the behavior is affecting you and those around but you are still unsure of taking action to change the behavior. So in our example of quitting smoking, the smoker knows the long term affects of smoking and know they need to quit but do not yet have the desire to act on it.
Preparation stage is the stage where you commit to addressing the behaviors you want to change. In this stage, you seek out help to change the behaviors so in the example of quitting smoking, you would talk to your doctor about quitting or find resources to help support the change as well as make small steps towards cutting back.
Action stage is the stage where you actively address the behaviors and believe that you can make the change. In this stage, you would seek medical advice, use smoking cessation aids, join support groups, and actively engage in making changes.
Maintenance stage is where you have successfully taken the steps to change the behaviors and are actively avoiding things that would cause relapse. So if you successfully quit smoking then you would not join coworkers when they go outside for a smoke break or avoid foods and beverages that make you crave a cigarette.
Relapse stage is where you slip back into your old behaviors but quickly re-evaluate the behaviors and return to the maintenance stage. So you have successfully quit smoking but temptation gets the better of you and you smoke a couple of cigarettes. You think about how far you have come and refuse to allow a slip to take away all your success so you return to the maintenance stage.
The stages of change is not an absolute; you can go back and forth between stages many times before a long term maintenance stage is achieved. The goal is to continue to work towards being successful.
So after learning about the stages of change, what stage do you think you are at? Are you ready to step out of those behaviors that do not bring you health and happiness? What will your next step be? What do you need to succeed? Once you have answered these questions, you will have an idea of where to begin.
Yours in the journey,
Amanda
My Balanced Life Coaching 