New Year, New Strategy
By Tiffany K. Gust, MS, CISSN, Certified Health and Wellness Coach
What drives you to change your behavior? What is the one thing that motivates you to engage in wellness behaviors? What is your wellness vision? When did you feel the healthiest in your life, and what action items did you engage in then that you can incorporate now? These are all questions you might want to consider as you set goals for improving your health this year. Self-Efficacy and Readiness to Change According to the Transtheoretical Model (TMM) of Behavior Change, there are five stages that can be identified:
1. The first stage is precontemplation. In this stage, people are not even thinking about making any changes and don’t see the importance or practicality of making changes in their lives. 2. The second stage is called contemplation. During this stage, they may start to consider the benefits If you would like to learn of changing their behaviors, but they still aren’t ready to commit to any new behaviors. more about health and 3. W hen they enter into stage three, the preparation stage, they are ready to adopt the changes they wellness coaching, visit have been contemplating. They are open to education and may start to make plans to engage. the LiVe Well Center at 4. The next stage is action! They are taking all the right steps to make these behaviors a part of their Intermountain Health lifestyles by setting goals and making progress. This stage lasts for less than six months. Care, call 435-251-3793, 5. The final stage is maintenance. The changes have now become a part of their lives and regular routines. or email Tiffany Gust at Sometimes, events such as an illness, injury, and stress can cause you to slide back into the previous stages tiffany.gust@imail.org before you are aware of it. The bliss of maintenance can fade quickly if you aren’t careful. today. According to Alexander Link, the shift back and forth between stages may be caused by internal (e.g., changes in self-efficacy) and external (e.g., commitments to family, work) factors. It’s important to identify triggers and build strategies that can help prevent relapse. Bringing awareness to your current behaviors can help you maintain positive behavioral changes.
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