Change Doesn't Have to Be Hard. Here is the Key to Conquer Roadblocks and Welcome Change into Your Life.

By Erika Fehrenbach Prell

How do you feel when you hear the word change? Do you get excited for new possibilities? Or, do you feel dread? I am willing to bet the answer is; it depends since very few things in life are black and white. Change definitely falls in the gray area! 

As holds true with any dynamic situation, change is an unavoidable part of life. There are changes that happen that we cannot control and must deal with - changes in season, kids moving into another grade or school, changes in our job structure. We learn to roll with these changes because we have to; these are placed in our lives from an external force, not by our choice, so we deal with the change and figure it out. The changes that we might consider as hard are the ones that we must choose to take action on changing - eating healthy, exercising more, quitting smoking, finding a new career path that fulfills us or isn’t toxic. These are internally-motivated changes; change we think should happen to improve our situation. Whether these changes ignite excitement or dread completely depends on our mindset and the stage of change we find ourselves in. Understanding how to move from one stage of change to another make change not only easier but also welcome and exciting! 

In my previous blog post, “Struggling With Changing A Behavior? Here is the Answer to Why It is Not Your Fault”, I explained there is a stages of change model in psychology that can be a helpful tool in overcoming roadblocks to changing a behavior. I would like to dive a little deeper into three of the stages - Contemplation, the “hmmm...let’s look into this” stage, Preparation, the “getting ready” stage, and Action, the “ready, set, go” stage. 
​
Contemplation and Preparation often happen at the same time. Contemplation is the thinking through why you want to change your behavior  while Preparation is focused on developing strategies to make the new behavior successful. Why do I think it is important to mention this?  Because failure to successfully change a behavior is often due to skipping Preparation and trying to go from thinking and deciding that a new behavior is better in Contemplation to doing the new behavior in the Action stage. To achieve a new behavior, and make it actually stick, spending time to prepare an action plan increases your likelihood of success. You need to shift your mindset around this new behavior, and time spent preparing yourself and devising action steps will pay off.
Want some guidelines on thinking and preparing? Here is a roadmap to change with strategies and exercises to set you up for success in changing a behavior. Remember, the bigger the change, the more time you may need to spend on these steps.

1. Research the topic using reputable sources, not popular opinion.
2. Make a pros and cons list of changing your behavior. How can you use the pros in your favor? How can you turn the cons around?
   
3. Visualize the long term gain by making the change. If this is a better situation than not making the change, this can be a powerful shift in mindset.
   
4. Evaluate for roadblocks and brainstorm ways to overcome them.  Common roadblocks may include time, money, lack of support, and lack of belief in yourself or the value of the change.  Remove anticipated obstacles, if possible. For example, if you are wanting to eat healthy, get rid of junk food and replace with healthy options.  Getting rid of obstacles, especially in the beginning, can be helpful.
   
5. Track and celebrate your progress, no matter how small. This is the most overlooked and underestimated strategy for changing a behavior.
   
6. Find a supportive person, group, or community. Support is crucial for the process of change from start to finish. Want to up the game? Find an accountability partner!  Someone who won’t let you off the hook. This is a #gamechanger.
   
7. Map out a plan of action.  Helpful topics to include are when you will start the change, how you will measure it, how you will keep checking in on progress, and how will you stay on track 

In some cases you may be able to start executing a change before completely moving through this roadmap.  Say, what??? Some changes can be eased into while you are thinking and preparing. For example, say the change you want to make is to eat healthier.  While you are preparing, you could institute a few small changes while you prepare for the big launch like drinking more water and less coffee or soda, exchanging chips for fruit, eating out less.  This might actually help you long term instead of changing everything at once.  

Okay, you have thought and thought and planned and mapped and prepared, and today is the day to start!  Who-hoo!!! It is “Ready, Set, Go!” time; you are finally doing something! Here are a few tips for success as you put your new behavior into action:

1. Replace old behaviors with new behaviors.  Let’s be real, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of a behavior completely.  Your mind does not like the gap in routine. Instead, replacing an old behavior with a new behavior is more likely to lead to success.  Another strategy is to associate a new behavior with a well-established behavior so that you don’t forget to do it. A classic example would be to floss your teeth when you brush your teeth.​
   
2. Pay attention to triggers and your mindset.  For example, if you know you get hungry at a certain time of day, have a healthy snack ready so you are less likely to hit the vending machine.  Similarly, if you know you there is a certain time of day that you are more likely to do the new behavior, plan accordingly. Exercise is a great example; some people like to exercise first thing in the morning while others prefer evening.
   
3. ​Small steps in the right direction add up to big results over time. To truly change a behavior and shift your mindset takes time. Patience, persistence, and consistency will get you where you want to be.
   
4. Reassess your progress and plan frequently. This will allow you to make adjustments to reach your outcome.

Thinking, preparing, and action - these are your keys to conquering roadblocks and shifting your mindset to welcome change instead of dreading it. Stick with this process and put in the work, and you will have remarkable results. As your new behaviors become habits, you will go from thinking about the change to "it's just what I do". Catch the details on the final pieces of the stages of change model, Maintenance and Relapse, next week. Until then, friends, shine on!