Mastering the Five Steps of a Successful Change

Change is an iterative process, not a singular event.

Change is a part of life. Whether you like it or not, you will have to change throughout your life to adapt as best you can to the world around you. A world that will never stop changing whether you want it to or not.

Moreover, you may find yourself in unpleasant situations that will push you to want to change yourself. In any case, you will have to learn to master the 5 steps of a successful change in life.

Many would like to think that change can be decided upon with the snap of a finger and successfully implemented just as quickly. You have been a smoker for over ten years. You go to bed one night saying to yourself: “I'm quitting smoking”. And then, the next day, you wake up and magically don't feel like smoking anymore. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as it always is in life.

Change is not a single event, but rather an iterative process. Hence the interest for you to master the 5 steps that make up this process.

1. Pre-contemplation - Lack of awareness of a problem

This first stage is marked by a lack of awareness of the problem for which you will have to change your behavior. Without awareness of the problem, or a real desire to change, you will not be able to move forward in this iterative process of controlled change.

Some people remain in denial, saying, “I know I'll have to quit smoking someday, but for now, I'm okay because I'm young”. Others will say that they have to die of something and that smoking gives them such pleasure that they just don't want to give it up. This is true for alcohol and other harmful behaviors.

Precontemplation is therefore both a lack of awareness of the problem or a lack of real will to solve the problem.

2. Contemplation - When you become aware of the problem

At a certain point, you will become aware of your problem, and especially of the fact that you will have to change to solve it. This will take you into the contemplation stage. During this stage, you will define what you want to do to solve the problem. You will think of a plan of action, but it will still be in the planning stage.

Some people get stuck in this stage for months because they can't set action dates for the defined plan.

3. Preparation - Committing to change

Once you have a plan with specific dates for taking action to solve your problem, you will move into the preparation phase. You will define precisely how you need to change to achieve your goal.

It may be small changes that will ultimately have a big impact, or it may be more significant changes. Either way, this is the closest you'll ever get to taking action.

4. Action - Making the change

With your specific plan in place, you're eager to make a change for good. This is called taking action. For this to work, your intention to change must be voluntary. You will not be able to change if the will is imposed by external constraints not related to yourself.

I'll use the example of smoking, but you won't be able to quit because your partner asks you to. On the other hand, if you want to or if your health is at stake, the change is more likely to work.

This action phase will last for several months. You will be riding a positive wave that will make the change even more enjoyable. After 6 months to 1 year, the euphoria of change will give way to routine.

5. Maintenance - Sustaining the behavioral change indefinitely

And it is precisely when routine sets in that you risk falling back into your bad behaviors. This is why a fifth essential step must be added: it is called the maintenance phase.

This phase must make your change sustainable indefinitely. You must therefore frequently remind yourself of all the steps you have taken to succeed in your change, as well as all the benefits it has brought you. This positive mental reinforcement will help you to continue to maintain your new good habit.

Final Thoughts

Change is not easy, but you will maximize your chances of success by following the 5-step iterative process I have just revealed. You have to keep in mind that if this process seems to be a natural progression step by step, many people fail in the first four steps.

The hardest part is getting to the maintenance phase. Once you reach this phase, your change will have a good chance of becoming permanent if you give yourself frequent reminders of why you did it, and more importantly, of all the efforts you made to reach your change goal.