Author:
John Stephens
Date Of Creation:
26 January 2021
Update Date:
3 July 2024
Content
Have you ever reached a point when you realized that your life right now is not what you imagined? Perhaps you've fallen into complacency at work, in school, and in relationships. Maybe you have developed a bad habit like smoking, drinking alcohol, or unhealthy snacking.Understanding that you need to change is wise. Self-awareness is the first step. But, making big changes in your life requires careful planning and determination to make it happen. You can learn how to make a big difference in your life starting from this point.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Change behavior
Develop a behavior change plan. If you really want to make a serious change in your life, you can't just say that you will do it. You need to be determined. A behavior change plan is an action-oriented way to help you commit and monitor your change. Behavior change has the same meaning as it sounds - a way to change the way you act against a stimulus in your environment.
- Behavior change techniques allow you to replace unwanted actions with better things through a variety of approaches. One of the most popular approaches is positive reinforcement, which is the process of reinforcing a particular behavior by providing a reward every time it occurs.
- Behavior change is a psychological concept used for almost every action you want to transform by eliminating them entirely or increasing how often you do them. You can use this rule to stop smoking, lose weight, wake up early, or stop procrastinating.
Observe and describe behavior. Changing your behavior requires understanding an undesirable action to replace it. You can ask yourself any of the following questions to better cope with your attitude and find out when / why / where / how it happened:- When did you do it? What time? How long does it last? Who is usually present when it appears? How does the person impact that behavior? A few minutes before taking this action, what factors are in your surroundings? After it has happened, what factors are in your surroundings?
- To be able to lose weight, for example, you need to minimize the amount of fast food you consume each week. First, you have to know how much fast food you are taking, and under what conditions.
Measure your base. Jumping into implementing a behavior change plan without first gathering data destroys the results. Take a few days to carefully consider the occurrence of the action you want to change, answering a few questions that will help you describe it.- Measurements can be about calculating how much fast food you eat each week, as well as determining what foods you usually order and what portion sizes you eat with meals (for example, sandwiches). meat, chips, and milkshakes for a total of 1238 calories.)
Establish alternate behavior. Since you are trying to make a big difference in your life, you may want to stop doing some unwanted actions. Hence, it helps to establish a list of alternative behaviors that you can do during your transition period. Once you understand why you are engaged in this unwanted action (by describing and observing it), you can look for a healthier action that addresses the same impulse or becomes stimulant.- For example, if you realize that you always eat fast food on the days when you have to work late, you can bring a snack pack or prepare a few healthy dishes in advance to serve your purpose. this. If you want to cut back on your alcohol consumption and tend to drink socially, skip a few meetings with your friends or offer to have coffee with them.
Keep track of your own progress. When you begin your behavior change plan, you should continue to collect data throughout the process. This will help you identify new frameworks or even triggers that drive undesirable actions without your knowledge.
- On the positive side, writing about the frequency of the undesirable behavior as well as the surrogate behavior will help you determine if you are actually minimizing your likelihood of taking this action.
Method 2 of 3: Consider Personal Issues
Evaluate yourself. Before you can make lasting change, you need to decide what to change and understand why. Know your values, strengths, and weaknesses. These shortcomings will guide you to discern areas in your life where you want to spend more time, energy, and resources improving them.
- The best source of self-assessment is the Value of Life Test, which you can search for on Google. This review will allow you to rate your core values by importance to determine which values are most suitable for you to lead a full life.
Be prepared for the obstacles. Making the changes you want is a difficult process, and the reasons why they weren't available in the past have their own causes. Find out what is in your way, maybe a lack of time or a lack of willpower. If you understand the source of resistance, it will be easier to deal with the problem.
- Sit back and make a list of all the factors that are hindering the process of making changes in your life. You should be honest with yourself. Many obstacles may be caused by inner resistance that only you can overcome.
- For example, perhaps you are afraid to change. Or, you lack confidence in your ability to make a change. You should examine the situation carefully to determine what you are up against.
Seize the opportunity. Even if we have all the elements of a great life, we will feel stuck if we turn our heads and regret the opportunity we've lost. Maybe you got the chance to go to the other side of the world and follow your dream job. Or, you weren't able to decide if you should propose to someone you love from college. If you really want to make serious changes in your life, you need to learn how to spot good opportunities and seize them before they disappear.
- Opportunities will vary depending on your values and your own goals. Overall, it demonstrates the ability to do something meaningful, challenging, or scary. The hardest part is the reason why so many people let the opportunity slip away from their hands. They don't come out of the way - they require us to develop and express ourselves in order to win them.
- You can seize opportunities by removing the constraints that society has assigned to you. Ask yourself what you would do if you didn't fail. You need to be open to possibilities that are everywhere, even when they appear completely unexpected or don't seem easy. If an option looks like it will benefit your future, take it.
Develop a plan with small steps. What do you need to do to get from point A to point B? You should break down each problem until you can draw a map to guide you where you need to go. You have to ask yourself if the goal you want to achieve is worth your effort.
- When planning your plan, remember to make it feasible. You won't want to develop an action plan that requires you to eat an entire elephant in a day. Instead, you should break down large tasks to make them easier to manage. When you are really faced with eating an elephant, the most feasible method you can do is to eat it little by little.
- Make your plan as clear and detailed as possible. For example, if you're trying to lose weight, you first need to change your lifestyle habits, like your diet and activity level. You can form a date in which you want to notice a change in this area. After that, you must focus on following them closely, regularly monitoring the results.The goal of "losing 45 kg" will be quite big, but the saying "I will eat more vegetables, stop drinking soft drinks except water, and walk about 5 km a day" will be more realistic.
Method 3 of 3: Become a better person
Pay more attention to everything. Mindfulness is an exercise that positively affects your physical and mental health. Learning about it will help you enjoy a stronger self-awareness of yourself and, as a result, limit your unwanted behavior. Mindfulness helps you respond better to stress, improves sleep quality, reduces anxiety and restlessness, and motivates you to participate in life. There are a number of helpful mindfulness techniques.
- Simple mindfulness meditation is used to bring relaxation and calm. Sit comfortably and quietly in a room free of distractions. Breathe in deep air into your nose and out through your mouth, paying attention to how you breathe. Allow your thoughts to enter and leave your mind freely without judging them. You don't have to criticize yourself for wandering your mind - just realize that you are distracted and quickly refocus your breathing.
- Impulsive surfing is a great technique for someone who is addicted or possesses other undesirable behavior. Just sit in a quiet place while taking deep breaths when your cravings arise. You will notice physical sensations taking place in the body due to desire. Instead of hoping that it will go away, inwardly tell yourself that - like a wave at sea - it will subside for a moment.
Rate your social network. When you want to make a serious difference in your life, you need to involve the people around you in the process. This doesn't mean that your friends, co-workers, and loved ones have to go on the journey with you, but you have to determine if they're helping or causing harm to your progress.
- Sometimes friends are so accustomed to our particular behavior that they will object when we change. If someone in your social network is unhappy because you are making a positive change, or trying to ruin your growth, you need to take action.
- For example, you are losing weight but your friend always brings you pastries. You must be frank with them to make sure you don't deviate from your goals. You can say to your friend, “Hey, I know you meant well by bringing the cake to me, but I'm trying to cut down on the sweets. What if next time we will make ice cream with fruit and yogurt? ”.
Find someone to supervise you. No matter how big of a change you are making in your life, the effortless process can be quite stressful and frustrating. Having someone on your side during your journey will be invaluable, as this person will be watching over you so you can reach your goals.
- A monitoring partner is someone with whom you will be constantly updated on your progress. They can provide you with advice, support, or simply and motivate you when things get tough.
- They can be one person or many people. Your partner, spouse, sibling, close friend, or co-worker can all help with the change process. You can even look for supervisors through forums or online chat rooms, who are going through the same journey as you, or who has made significant changes.
Patience. Whether it's a new exercise program or a complete restoration of a relationship with someone you know, once you have a plan in place, don't give up. Do your best to ensure that you will achieve your overall goal. Changing any part of your life is a tiring process, you should celebrate every little victory and keep working towards the finish line. advertisement
Advice
- Don't give up. This process will not be too stressful. Surrender is the reason you cannot make a difference in your life.
- Use this site to find tutorials for obstacles you don't know well how to overcome (eg how to boost your willpower).
Warning
- You should make sure you really want to make the change that you plan to make. Once you formulate habits as you choose, it will be difficult to eliminate them, just as you did with your past habits.
