How do you sustain behavioral change? How difficult is it to change? How difficult is it to maintain a change in your life? Why is change so difficult? What can stop someone from changing? Why is keeping resolutions so difficult? Why is behavior change so difficult? Does change start with yourself? If the motivation to change disappears, will you revert to your old behavior?
Change
What keeps someone from changing? By means of:
- A lack of self-confidence,
- Pessimism “Things are going wrong anyway,”
- Fatalism: feeling like you were made for misfortune
- Age: “I’m too old to change, right?”
- Stagnation: Leaving everything as it is.
Benefit
What is the benefit of changing? What are the benefits in your life of changing? What are the advantages in your situation of implementing a new change? Make a list for yourself of the following:
- What are the benefits of the changes?
- What are the disadvantages of the change?
- What are the benefits of NOT changing?
- What are the disadvantages of NOT changing?
Responsible
Realize very well that: Change starts with yourself. Realise that:
- You are responsible for your own life,
- You are responsible for your own behavior,
- You are responsible for changing your own behavior.
Motivation
Someone can maintain for a long time that nothing needs to change in their life. Something motivates you to change now! When this motivation for change disappears, many people revert to old behavior.
Adjust goals
Anyone who wants to change must adjust their goals to daily behavior. The weakest link of change is behavior. Changes often fail because it is not (completely) possible to permanently adapt behavior to the desired change.
Intentions
Why do good intentions fail so often? Good intentions often fail because the behavior that directly leads to pleasant and pleasant circumstances automatically increases. Behavior that directly leads to negative circumstances (quitting smoking or losing weight) automatically decreases. Without good preparations in advance, no one has the skills or courage to persevere during difficult (stress) moments. When do good intentions fail? Correct: if you are having a hard time during (for example) moments of stress.
Stress and crisis
During times of stress or moments of crisis, you fall back into old behavior. Without properly preparing yourself for stress or crisis moments in your life during good intentions or changes, there is a good chance that you will relapse into old behavior. During difficult moments, grab your list of the benefits of change.
Difficult
Why is change so difficult? If a new change immediately meant a big step forward, where you could immediately achieve positive results, without any pain or effort, then no one would complain about changing. Then change would be easy. If a change in a person or a change in behavior requires a major investment of time and effort and a major adjustment, takes time and energy, you understand why change is difficult for so many people.
Valuable
What are the most valuable things in your life? Are those things that cost you a lot of blood, sweat and tears? This also applies to this change: if it costs you a lot of time and energy, the change will be valuable to you.
Reward
What helps during a change? Reward the new behavior that will lead to change! Reward your behavioral change extensively and be proud of yourself!