The process of modifying specific behaviors, such as habits, makes place for new ones or gives up ones that are no longer serving you. When it comes to fitness and health, developing sustainable, long-term routines is critical to maintaining good habits and accomplishing your goals. Making goals can rapidly become overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Unfortunately, people are also prone to diving in headlong and attempting to tackle too much change at once, leaving them agitated. It is very common for people to give up altogether, when this happens.
Behavior Change Stages
Making long-term behavioral changes is rarely a quick or straightforward process. In fact, if you want to achieve long-lasting changes, you should be aware that they will necessitate a commitment to your goals as well as the time, effort, and passion required to make them a reality. It also aids in understanding the many stages of change that people go through. Most people go through six crucial stages of behavior modification along their journey. Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse or termination are examples of these. Here’s an more detailed look at each of those stages.
Precontemplation
The precontemplation stage is when you are not yet ready to make adjustments. This stage typically lasts at least 6 months before you are ready to change your current habits and patterns. Perhaps you are unaware of how unappealing your existing way of life is, or you do not believe that making changes is required.
Contemplation
You are beginning to plan to make adjustments soon while still contemplating the need for change. You’ve examined the benefits and drawbacks of making changes or staying the same and determined that change is required. However, you may still be hesitant to change and aren’t quite ready yet.
Preparation
This is the start of the 30-day countdown to change. You have decided to make some changes to your lifestyle and habits in order to make healthier choices. However, you feel that change is required, and you are taking little measures toward accomplishing it.
Action
You’ve been changing things in this stage for up to 6 months. So even though it is still early in your fitness journey, you must be watchful and remain focused because the healthy habits are still fresh.
Maintenance
When you effectively implement your new behaviors and make long-term improvements for more than 6 months, you are in the maintenance phase. What matters now is avoiding relapse and ensuring that the adjustments you’ve made stick.
Relapse or Termination
Termination occurs when you have no desire to return to your previous behaviors. It is the ultimate goal of long-term behavior modification. Relapse is also prevalent when the behavioral modification has not been sustained. Relapse is preventable, although it does occur. Trying out several strategies for changing your behavior will help you determine what works best for you. You should not relapse, but if you do, or if you are now in that phase, do not be discouraged—this is natural, and you can begin again and recommit to your fitness journey anytime you are ready.
The Mental Shift
The goal is to create an atmosphere and lifestyle that encourages behavior change by focusing on your strengths and expanding on them rather than attempting to “fix” what you perceive to be your faults. It is a mental shift that promotes positive thinking about yourself, your abilities, and your progress rather than focusing on what you perceive you are doing “wrong.” Keeping a record of your accomplishments and thanking your body for all that it allows you to do daily is a perfect way to start the mental shift.
SMART Objectives
Using SMART goals is a tried-and-true strategy for sustaining behavior change. To put SMART goals into action, create them as follows:
• Specific: Develop habits that will lead to your desired outcome. Rather than expressing, “I want to be leaner,” consider saying, “I want to workout 5 times a week.”
• Measurable: Ensure that your goal is trackable and measurable, and then monitor your progress. For example, keep track of how many times per month you complete your objective of working out 5 times a week and analyze your progress by maintaining a journal of your workouts.
• Attainable: The goals you select should be attainable. Set short-term, attainable objectives for your behaviors, such as ” I’ll start by exercising 3 times a week .” The aim you choose should be ambitious and challenging without becoming overbearing.
• Relevant: Your goals and behaviors should be appropriate for your preferences. For example, if you don’t want to exercise more weekly, find other forms of movement that make sense to you and drive you. Maybe you want to swim or take a dance class one day of the week. The objective should stimulate your interest and keep you striving for success.
• Time-bound: Determine a timeline for achieving your goal. This period should be reasonable and not too far away. Begin with a few weeks ahead of time, rather than a whole year. When the timer runs out, re-evaluate your goals and make new ones.
Theory of Self-Determination
The self-determination hypothesis holds that a person’s ability to make decisions and regulate their own life is within their reach. Basically, a person believes that they can change and control their habits. When you believe you have control, you are more likely to be inspired to take action toward your desired changes, and you know that your actions can influence the outcomes. Self-determined people understand that they are responsible for their own triumphs and mistakes. Finding social support is one of the most effective methods to help you reach self-determination.Find a fitness companion or accountability partner with whom you can collaborate. Positive social situations improve motivation and self-determination. Avoid situations and persons who are discouraging or do not provide constructive support.
Rewards
It’s challenging to use rewards since relying on them too strongly can backfire. The ideal method of using rewards is to choose something that will motivate you and help you sustain your new habits. Then, once you’ve established the discipline, utilize rewards sparingly because they can actually reduce your natural motivation. If you have no desire to engage in your new habit, such as strength training, but know you should, employing a reward can help you get there. Once you’ve started the routine, the assumption is that you’ll find the natural motivation to keep doing it. This motivation is more effective for habit maintenance and includes internal motivators such as observing how good you feel after your workout and appreciating that you look and feel stronger. It could also mean recognizing your enhanced energy, better sleeping patterns, and other positive feelings. Recognizing these things keeps you excited about your workouts.
How to Retain Your New Habits
Maintaining motivation and new behaviors is critical for long-term change. You will avoid your prior undesirable behaviors during the maintenance phase while continuing your new ones. Setting yourself up for success from the beginning will reduce your chances of relapse. If you’ve picked a workout partner or accountability partner, they can assist you in staying on track. Check-in with one another and be honest about your difficulties. Look for support from your buddy to keep you on track, whether it’s planning and sticking to gym dates or reporting on your accomplishments and mistakes. Making a list of all the things you will lose out on if you fall back into old patterns may also help you stay motivated to change.
Kim’s Final Thoughts….
Making adjustments to your routines and lifestyle can be difficult. However, it is important to remember that growth is not linear—your fitness journey will include ups and downs. It is critical to accept responsibility for your results and work hard to maintain your advancement. Knowing that you have influence over your outcomes prevents you from feeling despondent. For the best results, seek help from a supportive social circle and continue to analyze your goals to see if they are meaningful to you and realistic. Reviewing and revising your SMART objectives is an ongoing process—they are not set-it-and-forget-it targets but rather a growing set of ambitions to strive for. Changing and adapting them as you go is beneficial and gives you more self-determination because you know you are in control.
