Following up on my previous blog related to New Year’s Resolutions, I wanted to expand on the previous points:
- Assess why you would like to change it.
Be mindful of the reason why you would like to change a specific behaviour. Is the motivation to change driven by internal or external forces? By external, I mean are you being demanded to alter your behaviour by societal demands etc.. or do you want to pursue these changes as you are motivated to engage in change due to a new perception about the specific behaviour.
If the motivation is driven by internal forces such as mindful to be healthy due to a recent experience which shook you will probably motivate you more than say its because society is insisting to eat healthy.
2. Assess whether you can appreciate the process of behaviour change.
Assess whether you can appreciate the idea of the process as much as you would appreciate of it as opposed to the final stage [such as; liking the idea of losing 15 kgs of weight (final), but to achieve that one needs to do some of the following; frequenting to gym on a regular basis, managing diet better, changing types of food products etc.. (process)]
This is a crucial concept, as if the method which would result in the desired change repulses you, then the probability would be the advantages of the final stage would not surpass the disadvantages of the process which one has to go through in order to achieve results.
3. Formulate small reachable goals to achieve during a short period of time.
Assigning small goals every week aids the development towards achieving your main goal. This is important due to the fact that assigning weekly goals would motivate the individual to continue climbing in a step wise manner towards this goal. If the aim is the main goal then one might feel de-motivated as the goal would be to farsighted. Seeing slight improvement each week would motivate one to continue engaging as the goal seems somewhat reachable, plus it’s a good feel factor too thus increasing one’s general sense of wellbeing.
4. Speak to friends or relatives about this desired behaviour change.
Involving others in this process helps the individual in terms of moral support, throughout the way one might relapse and engage in the unwanted behaviour. Moral support is crucial to help the individual feel motivated again to continue the process towards desired behaviour change.
Karl Grech is a counsellor. He offers counselling to both individuals and couples within Willingness. He can be contacted on karl@willingness.com.mt.
You can visit his profile on: https://zme.tec.mybluehost.me/willingnessmt/team/karl-grech/