Are You Going Through a Change?

Everyone has gone through Life Transitions: a move, a new job, a new baby, a new partner, divorce, etc. The question is...How do you deal with it? A change in your daily lifestyle can sometimes be overwhelming; even if the change is something you wanted and initiated. People deal with these situations in many different ways; some are healthy (e.g., talking about it) and some ways are not healthy (e.g., shutting down). Talking about your transition and discussing possible paths for you to take will help you make the change in as positive a manner as possible. An important aspect of going through a life transition is understanding where you are in the process of that change.

Psychologist James Prochaska has identified 6 stages that one goes through as part of a self-initiated change in life. They are identified as; precontemplation, contemplation, planning, action, maintenance, & termination. Precontemplation is the stage of denial. This is where “others” feel you need to make a change but you feel a change is not necessary. Contemplation is the stage where you agree you need to make a change and you begin to think seriously about changing. Planning is the stage where you start to do some research as to what it would take to make the change. Action is the stage where you modify your behavior and it requires the greatest commitment of time and energy. Maintenance is the stage where you must continue with your progress and work to prevent relapses. Termination is the stage where you are free from your previous situation. In this stage there is no chance of relapse. However, during the first five stages, the changes are not linear and you don’t necessarily go from one to the next in a smooth manner. Sometimes you relapse and go back a stage. The key here is to learn from your relapse, stick with your plan, and stay motivated to make your change.

Once you identify the stage you are in, you can now create an appropriate strategy to make this change in as positive and productive manor as possible. If you are in the Planning stage, it wouldn’t make sense to start taking action on the change; that would only lead to failure. Again, the key is to know where you are at in the change process and then take the proper steps to make the change as positive as possible.

Steve Uhlenbrock, M.Ed., M.A. is the owner of Feel Great Coaching and is available for motivational speaking, corporate presentations, and individual coaching. For more information, email him at Steve@FeelGreatCoaching.com, visit http://www.FeelGreatCoaching.com or call him at 610-873-7767.