How to Make Changes Stick

Have you ever wanted to make a change in your health?  Was it a success or did you quickly return to your old habits?

If you did no worries, it can be very common.  When it comes to making a change toward better health, the new year is often the time people become motivated to do so.  However, it seems like only a couple of weeks pass by and the old ways suddenly return (a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology says 29% of people stop after the first 2 weeks).

Because of this, many people have stopped bothering with New Year’s Resolutions a long time ago – since every time they tried, they gave up a short while later.

However, it doesn’t mean that all resolutions are meant to be left alone.  In fact in the same research (done by the University of Scranton), it says people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.  That means something is much better than nothing!

Rather than leaving you on your own to make a change, we want to increase your chances of success even higher.  Here is a simple, four step process that can make a huge difference.

4 steps for making your change stick:

Step 1 – Identify what change you want to make.
Step 2 – Identify why you want to make the change.  What benefits do you hope to see because of it?
Step 3 – Identify your values.  What gets you excited?  What are you passionate about?  What do you sacrifice everything else to do?
Step 4 – Link Step 2 to Step 3.  How will the benefits of your change support your values?

For example:

Step 1 (What) – I want to start walking every day.
Step 2 (Why) – I want to walk every day in order to have more energy and be in a better mood.
Step 3 (Values) – I value my kids.
Step 4 (Link 2 to 3) – If I have more energy and am in a better mood, I’ll be able to spend more quality time with my family and I’ll be a better parent.

By linking the benefits to your values, you now have a powerful incentive to stick with the change you want to make.  When the weather gets cold it is easy to skip you walk…when it is all about you.  However, if going for your walk becomes about being a better parent, then you become much more likely to get out there!

The key is to list as many benefits as you can think of and then list as many ways as possible that those benefits will support your values.  If you link enough things, eventually you’ll realize there’s no way not to make the lifestyle change you are thinking of!