How are you motivated? What makes you take the step in the right direction for your health?

I have to ask myself these question a lot as I work with many different types of people in my coaching practice. I have realized that even though people are different and their personalities and ways of thinking are diverse, what gets them to make a change typically comes done to the same thing.

They are fed up with being fed up!

Once you get to this stage, you are typically ready to take the “preparation step.” This is when you are ready to take action and start the research of what to do or who to talk to. Given that it’s December 31st I’m sure there are many of you that are at this step right now in your life. Maybe it is a step to healthier eating or starting an exercise program. Or it could quite possibly be some other event like changing jobs or ending a relationship. Whatever it may be, take some time to figure out where you are in the following model and take the next step!

In The Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change) there are six steps:

1. Precontemplation – In this step many people are sometimes still unaware of their unhealthy behaviors or think that the cons of moving forward with the change are higher than the pros.
2. Contemplation – In this step people start to become aware that their behaviors could be problematic, and start to consider the pros of making the changes.
3. Preparation – This is typically when someone reaches out to me. They are ready to take action and make a small step toward a healthier lifestyle.
4. Action – At this point people have started to implement healthy changes in their life and are seeing the positive outcome.
5. Maintenance – In this stage, people have kept up their behavior change (more than 6 months) and feel they can maintain it moving forward. They work on preventing any relapses during this stage.
6. Termination – At this point people have no desire to go back to their unhealthy behaviors. Typically people tend to stay in maintenance phase for the majority of their life as termination stage is rarely fully reached but it IS attainable!