“You are the creator of your own life.”
We all have often heard this quote but in our minds we think I am trying hard, working daily, listening to my arrogant bosses but still I am not reaching anywhere and all these quotes are easy to say. Trust me, I completely understand what you are saying. But all these negative thoughts cannot overshadow the truth behind this quote which can be further assassinated by another quote
“It’s our habits that make us or breaks us.”
What is behavior change?
The sum of conscious and unconscious alterations, transformations, and modifications in one’s behavior throughout any period is behavior change. There are broadly two types of behavior change, which are,
- Voluntary behavior change
- Involuntary behavior change
As the name clarifies voluntary behavior changes are the changes made by us voluntarily in ourselves to achieve any specific goal or for the altogether betterment of the quality of our life. We have to work on this process and we will talk about it further but first let’s know about involuntary behavior change.
Involuntary behavior changes are the changes that we are not aware of we are making or they just happen like an accident. We observe many people change after facing an accident or a trauma, but the changes we see in them come suddenly. Involuntary changes can last for a lifetime but most times normal as they recover, the behavior of the deceased gets back to normal as soon as he recovers from the incident or trauma.
Importance of bringing the change:
“Change is an inevitable part of life” and to survive in this ever-changing world, we should try to bring changes in ourselves.
Various concepts and theories support the importance of bringing a change in your life by changing your habits and how important it is to bring changes into your life. From all the concepts and theories, we will understand the importance of behavior change with an easy-to-understand and comprehend concept. Known as the 3-4-50 concept.
The 3-4-50 CONCEPT
According to the 3-4-50 concept,
- Low or no physical work
- Excessive smoking, and
- Intake of improper diet
Are three main poor behavioral activities, any of these or altogether of these when performed for a significant period can cause 4kinds of hazardous diseases, which are
· Cancer
· Pulmonary diseases
· Heart diseases, and,
· Diabetes
In any period, these 4 diseases kill about half of the population (i.e. 50%) that dies every year across the globe.
The 3-4-50 concept tells you how necessary it becomes to change your unhealthy habits and adopt healthy ones. The same is the case of every other field, whether it's your profession, personal life, eating life and, workout life, etc. And for bringing changes into your life, undergo a process made with 5 steps. But before telling you about these steps and the process. Let me tell you that all this will not be easy. I am not saying it to make your mindset negative about the process, but to let you know about the hard work you have to put in to change your life.
Is behavior change a hard process:
If you want me to stay true then yes, behavior change is never a simple process. But if going through a process can change your life for good, then the hardships that come in the way are actually worth it.
The process of behavior change is a lot more complex than the simpler it sounds. As the process will require the best level of dedication, patience and, strong-will you have ever provided. The fact is bringing any minor change in your lifestyle like waking up at the same time daily can take your 2-3months easily and after that to you have to take care of the recent change and maintain it so that it can become permanent.
Things to remember in your life-changing journey:
“Your setback is just a setup for your comeback.”-Steve Harvey
You will face many setbacks in this journey of self-change. But never let those setbacks hinder your path and keep your eyes focused on your goal, which is living a better life. Instead, try to embrace these setbacks by analyzing them and finding out the mistakes that caused you to face the setback. Learn from these mistakes and try again with a better perspective of what you should do and what you shouldn’t.
"Success is built sequentially. It's one thing at a time."-Gary W. Keller
Try to achieve a few goals at a single time. I recommend you to start with trying to make a simple change at a time and after achieving it, go for the other one. But if you think you are highly determinant, then take a maximum of 2 to 3 goals at one time. Do not change everything at a single time. It will give you anxiety and panic and will leave you achieving nothing.
"If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else."–Laurence J. Peter
For achieving your goals, envision them properly. Instead of setting vague goals like I will run every day. Set a goal like I have to run for 20 minutes a day in the morning between 6:00 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. When you know what exactly you want to achieve, it becomes easy to know that if you are going in the right direction or not or how close you are to your goal. Knowing your goal properly also works as a motivation factor that will remain missing in the other case.
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
—Norman Vincent Peale
Self-belief is the most important thing that you will need on your life-changing journey. If you don’t possess an inner belief in yourself, no matter how many people believe in you. You are still not going to achieve anything big. Don’t depend on others to motivate you or believe in you. Do all these things by yourself for yourself.
Process of behavior change:
The process of behavior change comprises 5 steps in total. Climb one step at a time and give yourself time before climbing the other one. So, without taking much of your time. Let’s talk about the steps and understand what every step concludes too.
Precontemplation: The stage where no change happens instead we are not even thinking of changing or we need a change in our life is the pre-contemplation stage. We can say it as the stage of “complete unawareness” or that a person is in the phase of denial. There can be different reasons for one’s being in this stage.
1. Fear of change- Many people fear change and thus constantly avoid the fact that they need a change in their life. We can state it as another example of what stage of denial is.
2. Lack of awareness and information- Most people live their complete lives with wrong behavioral habits without even knowing that the behavior they have requires significant changes. While others think it is impossible to change one’s behavior.
3. Avoiding positivity- Many people avoid positive things as their mindset has become enough negative to endure any positive thought. Thus these people live at a stage where they consciously don’t want to change.
The only way for you to surpass the stage is to realize your wrong behavioral patterns and then decide not to stay with them forever.
Preparation- Goal-oriented planning comes under the preparation stage. An individual believing that he is enough and capable to make any change required and thus starts taking the steps required to achieve that goal.
Action- after enrolling yourself in a gym and after taking the advice of the dietician, the thing required is a proper and important follow-up, that is what action is. In simpler words, doing the things that are required or we can say making the required change is action. This phase will challenge you the most and will test your determination to the very best.
Maintenance- After indulging in the process of action for 6 months, you will get an entry into the Maintenance phase. The primary aim of this stage is the prevention of the relapse of your new habit, which you have made with skilled work and zeal.
Before ending, I want to repeat some important things that will help you in the life-changing journey.
·
Set realistic goals which are possible for being achieved in the actual world.
Try not to set too many goals at a time instead stick with one, achieve it and then move further.
Try to set such goals completion of which is not dependent on someone else in these cases you will easily get disappointed.
Envision your goals clearly. The more clearly you know what you want to achieve, the more likely you will achieve it.
In the end, I want to wish you all the courage and patience you will need in this life-changing journey. And may you come out as a better person after going through this process.
One should definitely read it !! I am sure it will help u to rethink how u can change ur life by just changing habits and routine
ReplyDeleteThank you, share it with others so that they can be benefitted as well.
DeletePost a Comment
Please do not enter any spam link in the comment box.