Change is difficult and change is possible. For each of us. There is always a little wiggle room for change in each of our lives. If we become aware of the unseen. If we slow down and look. Some of these changes take minuscule effort but may result in big gains. While other changes may be long and arduous but attainable when broken down into smaller chucks. Some may be impossible or improbable.
The change we want the most keeps popping up. It won’t go away. It tugs at us like a child who wants candy at the checkout of a store. How often do we squash this feeling? What happens if we confront this feeling straight on?
Change can be made easier if there are tools to help. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM), developed in the 1970s and 1980s by James O. Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, was revolutionary in its explanation of how behavioral change can take root and how it’s supported over time.
- Precontemplation: a person is in denial. They may have heard from close friends that they need a change.
- Contemplation: a person is wavering and indecisive but aware a change may be needed.
- Preparation: a person decides to make a change and starts researching and exploring.
- Action: a person is actively acting and tracking progress of change.
- Maintenance: a person is moving forward with the changes, reinforcing the changes, changing the environment and enlisting support so they don’t regress to old habits.
- Termination: a person has buried an undesired habit in the past. They have metamorphosed.
TTM may not explain every type of change that people experience but it can help us to identify where in the journey we are. Then we can decide what next step we take. We reach readiness for change somewhere within step 3, Preparation. Something must trigger step 4, Action. Sometimes we trigger this. Often, it is an external push.
I’ll share a personal story. I have tried to change to a healthier diet for years. Many attempts were made but nothing lasted even when I had success with intermittent fasting. This past year, the anti-inflammatory diet finally resonated with me. I had developed arthritis in my right knee. Physical therapy helped. But I still had painful twinges. Once I understood it was inflammation causing this pain, I researched foods that reduce inflammation (and a list of foods that increase it). It appears that eating tomatoes, berries, olive oil, nuts, greens or fermented foods reduces inflammation. If I eat one tomato a day, I do not need any pain medication for my knee. I finally changed because … “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change” (Tony Robbins).
What keeps tugging at you? Is there a change you wish you could make? Where are you on the TTM framework?
Copyright © 2023 Devashri Gupta. All rights reserved.
