The Secret to Making Lasting Changes

-
Think you can't change? Many of us already know that we need to improve our state of well-being in order to extend our lives as we age. Making changes is traditionally difficult, but the good news is that it's never too late to make changes for the better. The first step is to understand what's important to you, and then determine the choices and decisions that represent where you want to be. Maybe you want to start a new career, lose weight, stop smoking or start exercising. Whatever the change is, be sure you understand why you want to make the change.
 
Take a moment to think about a time in your life when you made a successful change or developed a new habit. What was your motivation for the change? What was your attitude at the time? What obstacles or barriers did you have to overcome? Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. Once you make the decision to change, you must practice that new behavior one day at a time until it becomes a habit - a lasting change.
 
Embracing the concept of change is a big thing, because interestingly, many people think they don’t have a choice when it comes to change. Why? For some it's fear, guilt, love, pain, time management or even a court order. What motivates one person may not be the same thing that gets another person to act. Everyone reacts differently to changes, whether voluntary or mandatory.
 
To start making a change, let go of certain assumptions or ways of doing things, to make room for new ideas. Work on this one day at a time until you feel comfortable. This often comes into play when I work with sedentary people to increase their activity level (people who work a lot and don't have a lot of time to exercise). One of my clients' complaints was, "I don’t want to take an hour or 30 minutes to walk." My solution was to suggest several two-minute intervals that would equal 30 minutes throughout the day — just stand up, walk around and visit people throughout the office, for example. The result was successful. He exercised and actually became more sociable as a result! Once he became comfortable with walking, I got him up to 10-minute intervals three times a day. Now he’s walking 30 minutes at one time and enjoying it. This all took place over the course of a few months.
 
To make a lasting change, you start wherever you are and stretch a tiny bit more each time. If you fall off the wagon, or experience resistance, identify the cause or circumstances— who you were with, where you were, or your emotional state. The key is to get up and get back on the path again. You may go back and forward a few times because making a lasting change is hard. Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. But you need to be ready, able and willing to make change happen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Stuck? Consider Changing Your Focus!

-
Image
If you sometimes feel as though you’re caught in life’s quicksand, you have a lot of company. We work, we struggle, we try to do everything we possibly can to move on to a higher level of well-being but it seems like the harder we work, the more stuck we get. If you’re approaching a Category 5 frustration level, you might give this a try… Switch your focus from that really nice – but frustrated – person in the mirror to one or more of the other folks who inhabit this good earth. I realize that it’s important to watch out for number one – ourselves. We need to set goals, lay out plans and then do those things we need to do so that we can at least make some progress toward our goals. We need to demonstrate personal financial responsibility, plan for retirement and frequently just cover our backside so it doesn’t get chewed off by one or more of life’s rodents. However, what frequently happens is that we become so over-focused on ourselves and our own personal well-being that we wind ...
Read more

3 Tips for Managing Your Life

-
Image
Good news: from getting organized to maximizing your time, there are some easy ways to stay focused and achieve your goals. What Areas Need the Most Work? Watching a reality TV show may be more entertaining than cleaning the bathroom or folding the laundry, but it won't keep your home from becoming a biohazard. Establishing and sticking to priorities will help you spend less time worrying about what needs to be done and more time accomplishing your goals. Consider using Sunday evenings, when you normally mourn the end of the weekend, to go over weekly goals and priorities. This is a great way to stay focused on what you want to accomplish without getting ahead of yourself. Cut Out the Junk If you're like most people, you keep possessions well beyond their usefulness. When your white clothes start turning yellow, or you find boxes and boxes that you can’t even remember what is inside, then it’s time to get rid of some items. Consider selling old appliances, c...
Read more

Do What You Love To Do

-
Image
What do you want to be when you grow up? I’m sure you were asked this question at least once when you were young. When asked the question, did you have an answer ready, or did you need a few minutes to think about it? We all had dreams of becoming something great, like a lawyer, a teacher, or a movie star, just to name a few. Well, how did you do? Maybe you never aspired to be what you set out to be or said that you would become. But then again, things change. The older we get, our tastes change, our view of the world changes, even our ambitions change. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned during my career path is to do something you love to do. Why is this important? I feel that if you enjoy what you make a living at, you end up being happy in more ways than one. Life itself becomes much more interesting and fun. You find yourself speaking passionately to others about your work. The experiences you have along the way become much more rewarding and enrich your life in many wa...
Read more