Are you, "Ready for Change?" 

The following are stages that people go through on the journey of change: 

·      Pre-contemplation 

·      Contemplation 

·      Preparation 

·      Action  

·      Maintenance 

·      Relapse 

 

It is  important understand when approaching an intervention or change, that one size does not fit all… You go through different stages and being aware of the “Stages of Model Change” by researchers and appreciating that there is a specific transition at every point makes the journey more manageable.

 

It’s important to recognise that your aspirations are personally worthwhile and meaningful. You also need practice patience. It’s necessary to recognize that it often takes a while to let go of old behaviour patterns.  It often takes 21 to 30 days before new habits are second nature to you. You should continue resist the temptation and stay on track.

 

You should look at your positive gains and give yourself credit for what you have accomplished as you go through the roller coaster of change.

 

This is just a normal part of making changes in your behaviour is that you occasionally may attain one stage only to regress to a previous stage.

 

 No consideration of change

 In denial (doesn‘t apply to me)

 Feelings of  ‘immunity‘ (things happen to other people; consequences are not serious)

 Given up (tried unsuccessfully in the past; believe there is no control) 

 To get the patient to think about change

 

 Undecided about change

 Views change as a loss in spite of possible gain

 Recognizes need for change but evaluates barriers (=yes, but..‘ time, expense, hassle, etc)

 May spend some time considering options

 May have to recognise barriers to change and benefits of making change 

 Getting through the contemplation stage may take anything from a few weeks to a lifetime.

 

 

 There is a commitment to change

 Prepares for or experiments small change. May do ‘sampling‘ changes in dietary   

    recommendations, exercise, or decreasing bad habits

 

 Takes definitive action to change 

 This is the shortest of all the stages. It can take from an hour to 6 months

 

 Maintains behavioural change long term.

 May need to constantly reformulate the rules of your life and are acquire new skills in  

    order to avoid a relapse.

 

 Those who fail to adequately prepare often relapse later. 

 They are unprepared for the trials and tribulations of change

 The more hasty the decision the higher the chances of relapse

 May need support with  maintaining the change

 May need encouragement through admiration and praise 

 

Stages of Learning:

Unconscious incompetence:
Don't know that I don't know. Don't care to know. There may be a belief that the Subject matter is too trivial or not important enough to warrant Time and energy. "It's so easy any idiot can do it".

Conscious incompetence:
Increasing awareness of ignorance. Increasing awareness of potential benefits of wanting to know more about the subject matter and learn some of the skills involved. This is an essential stage necessary to trigger the next stage of learning. "How does anyone ever learn this".

Conscious Competence:
Conscious awareness of theory, framework, skill sets and ability to use
All of the above in problem solving. This is the beginning of expertise. "I can do this."

Unconscious Competence:
This is the stage where observation, theory, analysis, perspective and discovering a solution are so seamless and automatic that it seems to flow and meld together. The answer seems so obvious that it seems hard to believe no one else can see it. "It is so obvious. How come no one else sees this?" This is the domain of an expert or the level of a habit.

Reflective Competence:
In order to reach the stage of reflective competence, the master requires a “beginner’s mind”, which refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.
 
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."
 
When deliberately assuming the attitude of the beginner’s mind, the master will reflect on the field of study and attempt to break every concept down to its simplest form. Attempting to do this will be counter -productive at earlier stages. It will interfere with the process of developing superior automated skill sets. Only when the superior skill sets are automated will the inquiry into first principles be useful.
 
Only when you instruct enough, will you build up a sample base sufficient to identify patterns of development and progress. Only when you can accurately assess an individual's progress and specific skill attainments can you help them achieve the next level of development and growth.   

 

In this schema, you have reached the grand master stage when you can do the following. As soon as you meet someone for the first time you are able to identify their current stage of development. You also know what it would take for them to move to the next level of attainment. 
 
I have reviewed my personal diaries that I started when I was fourteen years old. They review my life from ages four to about early fifties. So I have had the opportunity to measure how only when I had new default programs in place that were built over twenty-one days, did I truly exercise choice.

 

My time with my wife and time for my own health and fitness was crucial for building my tanks. When those things got out of balance, it impacted everything else. We'll all want to do well in our work life, I get it. But you can't compromise your commitment to self-care, or the relationships that matter most; the trade off is never worth it. If we try doing one at the expense of the other we eventually fail at both.

 

Every new project that I initiated was conceptualised 10 to 20 years ago. There was nothing inherently new. It's simply because I have noted this. I have observed this is true for all my clients as well. This means that for the rest of the book consider the following questions:

 

 2) What do you have to give up to become more efficient?  
 
 3) What are you prepared to omit to build relevant default programs/habits.
     (Note every default program must be chunked down to 15 minutes or less. A detailed program on how to do         is my online "Freedom Formula: Mastering Energy, Money and Leverage in 9 Steps ")
 
 4) What do you have to cut out  to have sufficient resources to do design what you want?
 
 5) What type of schedule would you have to design? 

 
 6) How would you execute it?

 

So when you get clear like this, it can be an incredibly empowering. And clarity will build momentum; momentum encourages confidence and the clarity and confidence aligns your subconscious mind to start working for you rather than against you. The new big thing in this world, you need to protect your confidence. You got to equip yourself with every possible advantage.

 

This exercise will jump start that process for you. But ask yourself this as you move forward, 'How will I maintain momentum throughout the entire year?' How will I build on that foundation that I've said here today? We've all been excited for short burst of time, haven't we? But if you come this far I know you're not someone who’s interested in short burst of success. We're playing the long game, right? 

 

We want a life that continuous to get better and better every week, every month and every year. We want to look back 12 months from now, with a deep sense of satisfaction. Knowing that we've just had the best year of our lives. That means we got to put things in place that build on the momentum of today. We got to break our old habits and safeguard our success, does that make sense? 

 

One lucky listener that posts a review on iTunes will win a private confidential consultation and coaching with me on discovering your soul’s purpose. I will lead you on a personal journey to discover your unique mind-body psychosomatic map of your life. You will get a detailed report and a personal 45 minute consultation with me that is worth thousands.

 

On this podcast I’m going to help you design a life that works. So you are able to say yes to the things that matter and eliminate everything else that slows you down. The more clear you can be about how to organize your daily life to support your bigger vision, the more you’ll step into your true potential, stay on track and accomplish all that you want and deserve. Are you ready to make that happen? 

 

Feel free to reach out to me to ask your questions at AskDrSun.com. Your life is a gift. Design it. Do what matters and join me each week as we get closer to designing the life of your dreams. I am Dr Sun. Join me next week on Your Life by Design.