The 5 Stages of Change: How to Know if You're Ready for Lifestyle Changes — Martina Fink

The Transtheoretical Model of Change (or 5 Stages of Change) is a model in psychology that helps you identify whether or not you're ready for a change in your life.

Are you ready to take care of yourself first, before you focus on work?
Are you ready to eat healthier and take proper lunch breaks away from your desk?
Are you ready to start a meditation practice to clear your mind and sleep better?
Are you ready to make it a priority to move your body in some way every day?
Are you ready to [fill in the blank with the thing you've been wanting to do and have been putting off forever]?

Just wanting something doesn’t necessarily mean somebody is actually ready to take the action necessary for the change to unfold in their life. In this blog post, I'm explaining the five stages of change, hoping that it will help you identify where you’re at with the (big or small) change you’ve been dreaming about for a while:

The 5 Stages of Change: Phase 1 - Precontemplation Phase

People in this stage are generally unaware or underaware of their problems. In the precontemplation phase, you're not ready to change anything in the near future. You're not yet "contemplating" any new habits, or things to improve in your life.

The 5 Stages of Change: Phase 2 - Contemplation Phase

In this stage, you are fully aware of the fact that there is a problem, such as:

You're working a lot, often feel stressed out, overwhelmed, and like you have never enough time.
You have trouble falling asleep at night, because you’re thinking about the next day’s to do list and all the unfinished things from the day.
You often eat on the go or at your desk, or maybe even forget to eat, because you’re so busy.
You generally feel tired and exhausted and know that your glow is not shining fully.

In the contemplation phase, you know that this is something that you should change, but you're not committed to making any change yet. Maybe you’re not 100% sure you’d deserve to be that better version of you, or you’re not confident that you can actually make it happen.

Either way, it’s not the worst place to be in, because awareness is always the first step to any change. So if you find yourself in this phase, my encouragement to you is to keep going.

The 5 Stages of Change: Phase 3 - Preparation Phase

In the preparation phase, you're getting ready for the change. You know your issue is serious and you really want to change it. You’re committed that something needs to change. This is when you:

Research the best running shoes and put some Yoga clothes in the cart.
Start looking at recipe books for healthy meals to take to work with you.
Do your research, read all the program details, and make sure it will help you solve your problem (e.g. overwhelm, exhaustion, lack of fulfillment etc.).
Read all the blog posts about morning rituals to know what your next steps are to achieve your goal (feeling calm, grounded, confident, and glowing).

You're not quite ready to actually make the change, do the workout, prepare your lunch box, sign up for the program… But you're preparing yourself, informing yourself, and making sure the circumstances are ready and right for you to take action soon.

When you’re in this phase, you have probably read all the books on self-care and habits, listened to 17 episodes on morning rituals, and have read at least 9 blog posts on how high achievers can have a healthy work-life balance. Maybe you’ve downloaded several different meditation apps, and have signed up for various wellness webinars that you never attended.

The Preparation Phase is a great place to be in. It means you're about to start making changes. You're honoring your struggles, you're done with the stressed-out life, and you're willing and committed to do something about it.

Your glow is about to come back to life. Your life will feel more fulfilled, nourishing, and simply beautiful.

The 5 Stages of Change: Phase 4 - Action Phase

This is an exciting, new, motivating, and inspiring phase! It's also the phase that's the most challenging, because it requires you to do something new. Something you haven't done before. Maybe even something you've tried, but failed the last time you did it.

In the action phase, you are ready to step out of the comfortable space you're in. You are ready to stand up for the woman you have been dreaming of becoming. That woman who loves her life, who wakes up energized in the morning and is excited about her day. That woman who knows that she's amazing, her work is always good enough, and how she shows up for others impacts the world.

You’re ready to stand up for that woman who makes it a priority to wash her face, eat breakfast, and move her body, before she checks her work emails.

This phase is easy to explain: You're simply ready. You're taking action.

You keep your phone turned off until after you've taken time for you. You turn off Netflix and read a book instead. You sign up for the course that's been feeling exciting to you and like it can help you achieve your goals and dreams faster. You put on your workout clothes and go for a walk in your afternoon break.

It's not complicated to make change, unless you tell yourself it is, and you're a perfectionist who overthinks everything and overcomplicates the most simple things (talking about my older self!).

Your glow is much closer than you may think. All it takes is a decision that you're going to do it. And then it takes self-trust that you're going to do what you said you would do. That's it. Simple.

The 5 Stages of Change: Phase 5 - Maintenance Phase

Once you start taking action, you're likely to see results. Some results come faster, some come slower. Habits can be tough to break sometimes, because it's something you've been doing for years or decades, if not your entire life. So please don't expect yourself to get your glow back in a free 5-day challenge when you've been struggling with overwhelm for the past 10 years.

The maintenance step becomes important only after you've made the first changes. Typically, we can't just practice a new habits for a week and think it's going to last forever. The maintenance step helps us make sure we keep going after we see first results and don't fall back into old behavior.

Remember that it becomes easier and easier as you go. And taking on help to maintain these first results until your new habits are fully settled is what has made a whole difference in my own life.

Maintain the vision. Keep going. Stay committed to the woman you desire to become.

Ready to start? Do this 1 thing to get your glow back.

If you find yourself in stage 4 or 5 and you’re ready to get started and take some actions towards a healthier, more balanced, and more fulfilled life as a busy professional, working with a coach might be just right for you. Click below to get all the details:

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