Healthier You: Overcoming The Resistance To Change
Already, the first few weeks after the new Year have passed. Are you one of the many who made the most popular New Year’s resolution? Did you guess which one? Of course, “be healthier”, whether mentally, physically, or even financially, maybe worded differently but healthier!
Congratulations! After all, if we are not “healthy”, what do we have? Without health, how rich are our lives? What does “be healthier” mean to you? Take a few minutes to visualize yourself healthy. Is it a healthy mind, a healthy body, both? What pictures, feelings, or words “being healthier” brings to you? Grab a pen and paper, write or draw what comes to you…. No, no,… do not ask the person close by you right now. Their idea of “be healthier” is not yours… we are talking about YOU… not statistics, not what your family is pushing onto you, not what the media repeatedly advertises as the “right thing to do”, but what healthier is for YOU. Allow yourself to spend time thinking of you.
Your picture of “being healthier” today may be different than it was two years ago. We change every day, growing wiser as we grow older. Take time for yourself; think; dream… What is “Being Healthier“ for you? Be as specific as you can. For example, in 2007, my picture of being healthier was to survive breast cancer and enjoy many more years of fun and precious moments with my two sons, Sam and Max, who were 3 and 5 years old at the time. By 2008, health, to me, meant regaining my energy after surgery and chemo, to be able to dance hours on end again, travel, and enjoy various sports and activies with my sons. Today, my health picture includes improving my body fat percentage and being able to perform, without restrictions, ALL the physical activities that my sons and I enjoyed prior to breast cancer. You see, my definition of being healthier changed over time. It was a positive change of course. Do some people choose to change for the worse? Most people do not, at least not intentionaly. However, our actions, inaction, thoughts, fear, or ignorance may guide us straight toward negative changes. By following the steps below, you will guide yourself toward POSITIVE changes, positive for you, and increase your odds of being healthier, but also apply the concept to meet many other resolutions.
1. So, what does “be healthier” mean to you? Did you figure it out? Great! Did you write it down? Even Better! Your thoughts of being healthier are most likely very different than mine, or maybe you have similar ones. No matter what they are, if what you described “feels good” or “makes sense” when you think about it, then it is the RIGHT definition for YOU at this time and in your environment. Congratulations, you have now defined your VISION! You have completed the first step toward achieving your New Year’s resolution. Not too difficult so far, right? Isn’ it nice to spend some time for yourself? Fabulous.
2. Now compare your New Year’s resolution to your VISION. Is your New Year’s resolution a stepping stone to your Vision for 2010? Is it close? Is it very different? The difference between your VISION and your New Year’s Resolution defines your DISSATISFACTION with the status quo. It defines the gap, the effort you have to make this coming year.
What rewards will you get when you are healthier, when you have met your New Year’s resolution? Thinking about rewards is also a great way to identify the areas where you are dissatisfied. After all, if the reward you are planning for will make you truly happy when you meet your New Year’s Resolution, then you just highlighted an area of improvement, an area where you experience currently dissatisfaction. Right?
3. When comparing your New Year’s resolution with your VISION, how big is the gap? Is the gap so big you are pretty certain you cannot succeed? Do you know what the true gap is, the effort it will take? Do you have enough time to bridge the gap? This next step may require some research. For example, I can use a formula to calculate what I have to lose in 2010 in order to bridge the gap between my current body fat percentage and the body fat percertage I resolve to achieve in 2010. I am also aware of what studies show an average person can accomplish with various methodologies over the course of one year. So, I can gage how easy or difficult it will be for me to fill in the gap. Finally, I also know the sports I want to be able to practice again, like windsurfing and raquetball, involve heavy use of my right arm, . I asked the Oncology Doctors the chances for me to recover the use of my arm following my surgery and how long it may take. This knowledge builds in the belief that I am able to reach my VISION. This creates “BELIEVIBILITY”. Are your gaps between your New Year’s Resolution and your VISION BELIEVABLE?
4. As you do your research and think through your options, you may find ways to bridge your gaps. Knowing what next action to take is as important. It is your FIRST STEP. Having a FIRST STEP is critical. Having a feasible and efficient FIRST STEP is even more important. For example, my FIRST STEP for 2010 will be to take part in seminars focusing on changing body composition. The fantastic coaches at WellTastic are implementing seminars across the Upper Valley. These seminars target short term and long term healthy behavior and lifestyle changes. Having followed their seminar previously, I went from a body fat percentage that was considered “Obese“ to a body fat percentage in the “normal/healthy“ range. I believe that WellTastic’s approach is exactly what I need to reach the body fat percentage I have resolved to achieve in 2010. Yes, in 2010, the correct FIRST STEP for me will be to enroll in a WellTastic seminar in order to achieve my resolved body fat percentage; to become even healthier.
What is your FIRST STEP for 2010? Have you started? Are you disappointed with what you started? If so, are you still pleased with your VISION, still DISSATISFIED, still BELIEVE in your ability to fill the gap? If you answered yes to any of these, then you just need to find a different FIRST STEP. Do not give up, simply re-define your FIRST STEP. You are so close to having all the components necessaries to meet your New Year’s resolution.
Without VISION (V), DISSATISFACTION (D), BELIEVABILITY (B), AND FIRST STEP (FS), you will need luck to succeed at best and as a minimum it will be a struggle…
Why? The principle in this article are based on a formula from “Theory of Changes” publications : V x D x B x FS > R. To overcome the RESISTANCE to changes, in this case what has prevented you in the past from being healthier, one has to ensure that a VISION, DISSATISFACTION, BELIEVABILITY, AND FIRST STEPS exist. Yes, it is a formula. Math principles show that 0 x any value always equal 0. So, if one is lacking any of the V, D, B, or FS, then it will NEVER be greater than R. If you lack Bottom line, it simply says that you need to have VISION (V), DISSATISFACTION (D), BELIEVABILITY (B), AND FIRST STEP (FS), to meet your New Year’s Resolutions, according to the Theory of Changes.
This formula applies to many changes that you may encounter in your personal life or at work. I have used it in various circumstances: when I found out I had breast cancer to set positive changes in motion, when I need to find ways to help my kids embrace a change, when it is difficult to have a team move forward , to plan for complex projects, to understand why somebody would not see “my side of the story” and better work with that person, and of course to help the individuals I coach to achieve the VISION they have set for themselves.
Enjoy the benefit of this amazing formula which was one of the Upper Valley best kept secrets, until now anyway!
From goal settings, to nutrition, to exercise, to coaching, there are many resources available to you in the Upper Valley to support your New Year‘s resolution and more. You will find many listed in Your Voice. You can also ask your doctor, your personal trainer, read the CCBA program, contact a qualified Life & Wellness coach, check YogaPiphany.com schedules, etc. Some interesting events and seminars will occur over the next few weeks, many of them are FREE, like at YogaPiphany in Enfield, NH. Check the Events and Resources page of WellTastic.com for more information.
Have a WellTastic 2010...and beyond!
To learn how to use the information contained in this article, go to the Event Schedule Page of our website.
Article Published 1/20/2010 in Your Voice Newspaper
©2010 Sophie Valerio. All Rights Reserved.
