Are You READY to breakout of your shell?

The concept that we are killing ourselves with our behavior is not new. Since the beginning of recorded history, medicine has wrestled with the problem of saving people from themselves.  It can be argued that the foundation of modern medicine was laid in Greece at around 400BC by Hippocrates. Hippocrates was a passionate humanitarian, physician and philosopher. His words echo at the graduation ceremonies at every medical school in the country as doctors recite the Hippocratic Oath. His words: “Everything in excess is opposed to nature." And "It is hard to contend against one's heart's desire; for whatever it wishes to have it buys at the cost of soul." also echo the recognition that we, as a race, are in a race to kill ourselves. It is not surprising then, that good ‘ol Hippocrates, an avid exerciser himself, offered up one of the very first lifestyle prescriptions: "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." (Really, he said that – the internet told me)

Knowing is NOT the same as doing  

        If we have known of the miracle cure of a healthy lifestyle for 2400 years or more, why are so many of us still getting sick as a direct result of the lives we choose to lead. How could we have had this answer for all this time and still we have the problem? Maybe it is because many people, secretly (or not so secretly), do not want to change. This issue of people not wanting to change has been the subject of intense study. In the early 1980s, Drs Prochaska & DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island examined the phenomenon of this apparent resistance to change as part of their work to help lower cancer rates. What they observed was that behavior change was not, as previously thought, a singular event but a process that occurred over time. In other words, they found that people did not just quit smoking all at once although it may appear as if they had. To arrive at the moment of quitting, they actually had to go through a series of thought processes or stages leading up to the moment where they no longer smoked. Like drops in a bucket, these thoughts and actions accumulated until the bucket was full. Once the bucket was filled, the very next drop made it over flow.

        To a casual observer, it looks as if the bucket began to overflow at the moment that last drop rolled over the edge of the bucket. In a very real sense though, it began to overflow from the moment the first drop hit the bottom of the empty bucket.  As scientists, Dr.’s Prochaska & DiClemente were no casual observers. Through extensive study, they identified 5 distinct stages of change. They consolidated their work into a method of understanding how human beings can change and how we professionals can help them to do it. This method, called the Transtheoretical Model of Change, is based on the concept that people will only be able to make the changes that they are truly ready to make. By understanding how each particular behavior scores on a readiness to change scale, you can begin to attack those behaviors that are ripe for change while cultivating others for later harvest.

How R*E*A*D*Y are you?

        Based on the Transtheoretical model, I have developed the R*E*A*D*Y test. This is a helpful way to determine how ripe your behavioral fruit is for the harvest of change. When my clients and I consider a behavior for change, I ask them to take an honest look at the behavior; the more honest the look, the more useful the test. Knowing how the behavior scores will determine how aggressively we can shake the tree to release the fruit of change. Unlike real fruit, however, behaviors can be ripe for change and then jump right back onto the tree. We need the test to keep focused on only harvesting those behaviors that we can really change. By properly grading the behaviors, we can guarantee success and use that success as seeds to plant more fruit trees. 

Each letter of R*E*A*D*Y represents a specific stage of readiness and is described below.

        R – REFUSE - This is actually not a stage of readiness at all, it’s a stage of unreadiness.  In this stage we refuse to believe we have a problem.  We absolutely fail to recognize that there is anything wrong.  It is the ultimate expression of blissful ignorance.  It is this stage where the lying machine  is working overtime.  I’ll never forget the time my wife, concerned about my weight, served me a no fat, no salt soup.  I ate it and said “I would rather die than eat this stuff the rest of my life”.  The sad part was I meant it at the time; I was not ready to change. I did not even want to talk about it.  Maybe I was ready to change something but I was not ready to change that behavior.  It is important to understand that when you look at your bank of bad habits, some of the bank you will be ready to withdraw and some you will not.  You will find yourself at different stages of readiness for every single behavior that you need to change.  Many of the behaviors that you need to change, may not even make your list of bad habits!  They are in a hidden Swiss bank account of bad habits and your mind refuses to let you see them. What’s the best way to start telling yourself the truth? The best way to begin is with some basic accounting.  Explore your stories, your behaviors, your bank of bad habits and look for things you know you should change. Simply by exploring these behaviors you will be moving into the “E” stage.

E- EXPLORE:  This is where we begin to think about the  behaviors we want to change.  It’s where we start to recognize that there’s a problem.  It is here that we begin to at least consider that our stories are lies and that they are not doing us any good. In this stage we are just waking up to the fact that these behaviors are worth changing.  It is through this exploration that we can begin to make change possible. This exploration, however, takes place entirely in the mind. It is a time of contemplation. To make things happen you need to acquire all the knowledge and tools necessary to begin work.

A- AQUIRE    During this stage we begin to acquire what we need to make our changes work.  The acquisitions that we make include knowledge, equipment, motivation and mind set. In fact if you are reading this book you are in the acquire stage.  You are acquiring knowledge.  You have passed through the exploration stage. You considered your problem and you decided to set the wheels of change in motion. Your acquisition of knowledge is going to form the basis of your future actions. In addition to acquiring knowledge, you may also buy a piece of exercise equipment, join a health club or take a cooking course. This is where you begin to get things started.  Sometimes it is just acquiring the basics of a habit. When I wanted to start walking every night, I started by just walking out onto my front porch. I opened the door and stood there like an idiot. After a while, I felt so stupid that I just started walking. On the days I did not want to walk, I still opened the door and stood there. It took almost no effort to open the door and it was hard to find an excuse not to do it. I wonder if my neighbors still think I’m crazy? I was working to acquire the habit of walking. Even on the nights I did not walk, I worked on building the habit. At this stage, building the habit insures future action. Your commitment to this stage will determine your ability to follow through.  Once I crossed the threshold of that door and started down the street I was officially DOING.

D- DOING:

 Like in the scene from “Forrest Gump” where he just gets up and runs.  This is the point where we just start doing it.  This is the point of action; it is where the work gets done.  This is where behaviors begin to change. It is where “the rubber meets the road.”   Experts say it takes about 30 days to change a behavior.  If you can stay in action phase for at least 30 days then you will probably successfully change that behavior.  Of course I always thought good behaviors took a little longer and it seems bad behaviors can develop in an instant. Once you doing the behavior regularly it seems automatic, it becomes part of your personal story. It becomes part of your definition of YOU. Welcome to the YOU phase.

Y – YOU –This is the phase where you can’t imagine a world without the behavior. It is so much a part of you, you can barley even remember life before this change. The behavior becomes almost effortless. It is automatic because it has become organic to your mind. It is now part of your story. When this behavior is part of you it is hard to deny and hard to defy.  If it is part of your definition of yourself, it is an easy behavior for you to maintain.  It belongs to you;  it is you. It is the last stage of the behavior change process-- sort of.