The Pendulum Swings
It’s not always the same time of year, but usually around January and September my attention swings like a pendulum to healthy lifestyle habits. Ongoing celebrations during the holiday season and cookouts and summertime fun suddenly reach a point where I want to push the pendulum back toward healthfulness. Whether it’s an internal feeling or external nudge, figuring out how to shift the momentum from happy hours, comfort food and social gatherings back to eating healthy and exercising regularly is a process I’m very familiar with.
James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed a model of change that focuses on the decision-making process of individuals wanting to make intentional change. Their Stages of Change Model was originally used to help people overcome addictions and problematic behaviors, however, it is now applied in many other areas. The model has six stages of change: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse.
In addition to identifying stages of change, they identified ten processes that helped with the progression between stages of change. Many of these are used in coaching. Helping people increase self-awareness, identifying or expressing feelings, uncovering limiting beliefs, gaining an understanding of how thoughts and feelings impact behaviors and how engaging others to help with change are all coaching concepts and can be found in Prochaska and DiClement’s work.
It’s not always the same time of year, but usually around January and September my attention swings like a pendulum to healthy lifestyle habits. Ongoing celebrations during the holiday season and cookouts and summertime fun suddenly reach a point where I want to push the pendulum back toward healthfulness.
It’s pretty easy to shift into unhealthy habits during the holiday and summer seasons. For me, I get to a point where I feel uncomfortable and want to start making better choices. I begin by thinking about what I’d like to do differently (contemplation stage) and then I start making a plan that could be realistically executed (preparation stage). At this point in the change process, the pendulum pauses and once action is taken, the pendulum swings back toward healthy choices. Keeping to a routine (maintenance stage) lasts until the seasons change and somehow the gravitational pull swings back in the indulgent direction and I find myself in the last stage (relapse) having to start all over again.
What are some notable, repeating patterns that swing you away from something you value? Try using the change cycle model and/or one or two of Prochaska and DiClemente’s processes to help you shift the momentum back toward a direction in which you want your life to go.
Reflection: Is there an area in your life where the pendulum swings in a direction that takes you away from healthy habits or sticking to what you value? What do you do to intentionally shift the momentum?
Action: Identify a pattern that reappears in your life and see if you can map the stage of change and steps you take to intentionally shift directions.
