Knowledge is Power

At a recent Weight Watcher's meeting the topic was the five steps of change that everyone goes through when forming new habits, or changing not so good habits.

I found it very insightful and it applies to everyone. It is human nature and what everyone experiences whether we know it or not.

But knowing and understanding the process of changing habits can really help us make those changes and stick with them. So I thought I'd share these steps of change with you.

1. Precontemplation: This is the happy (or not so happy, actually) stage of being unaware of a problem. Or even denial that there is a problem.

2. Contemplation: This is when we are aware that a problem exists and are thinking about doing something to change, but have not yet made that commitment.

3. Preparation: This is where we are ready to take action to change. We've made that commitment. Perhaps we are learning about what we need to do and intend to follow through.

4. Action: This is when we are working to modify our behavior. Working on a habit; going through the motions. It takes considerable time and energy and commitment...as we ALL know!

5. Maintenance: Working to prevent relapse. Sticking to the new habit.
(One thing that I read online about this says that for addictive behaviors this can take from 6 months to an indeterminate amount of time...in other words it takes a long time to break an addiction.)

Of course, relapse can occur and then we need to asses where we are in the cycle and get back to work.

I hope this is helpful to some of you! If you want more info about this you can go here. Or just google it like I did.

Have a great weekend!