The Secret Weapon of Changing a Behavior: Awareness

"Progress is impossible without change, & those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
-George Bernard Shaw

Behavior modification starts with awareness and knowing that a behavior needs to be changed. Once we become aware of unhealthy behaviors or habits we can start to replace them with healthy, positive behaviors. The awareness usually comes from within or if another person alerts you of the unhealthy pattern. When you make a genuine effort to observe what is happening in your life, you will become more aware of the situation and notice what triggers you to engage in that behavior. It's important to reflect on your behaviors and think about how you can improve. Then the choice is made by you to change the behavior or continue doing it. This change won't happen over night, but it will occur slowly over time. It starts with awareness and continues with motivation, education, support, and substitution.  Instead of saying you are not going to do the behavior anymore it's best to find something to replace the behavior with. The results will be much more successful. 

Here's some examples of unhealthy habits and changing the behavior!

• If you spend 3 hours during the day watching tv, you can replace that behavior with exercising or going outside to do an activity.
• If your behavior is to have an unhealthy snack, try to replace that behavior with eating a serving of fruits or vegetables. 
• If you hang around people who smoke, and you want to quit, surround yourself with other friends who do not engage in that behavior. 

It can take up to 6 months for a new behavior to become a habit. Over time, the new behavior will be much more desirable than the old one. Once it becomes a part of your daily routine you won't even think about it. 

Sources: http://www.yourofficecoach.com/topics/career_success/self_help_strategies/how_to_change_your_behavior.aspx
http://99u.com/articles/30437/its-all-our-fault-self-awareness-as-a-secret-weapon-for-habit-change

Change Starts with You

Hi everyone! Welcome to the employee wellness blog. Our goal is to help you stay informed with up-to-date information and support you through this journey. It's time to be inspired and to live a healthy lifestyle! 

Being a caregiver can be stressful and hard work at times. While you are caring for others you may forget to take care of yourself which can have a poor affect on you emotionally, physically, and mentally. We want to help you take charge of your health and adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. The core to good health starts with getting the right education, knowledge, skills, support, and motivation. If you do not want to change your behavior, there will be no result. Once you adopt a behavior you need to maintain it, which can be the hardest part for people. You have to work hard and set goals for yourself, and if you don't stick to a routine and follow through, the behavior won't last. 

Have you ever heard of the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change)? This is an interactive framework for understanding how individuals progress toward adopting and maintaining a healthier behavior. Change is a process that unfolds over time through a sequence of stages. The goal is to get individuals to make clear modifications in their life and sustain it for a period of time so they do not relapse.

Change starts with you and it won't happen over night. Start thinking about your unhealthy lifestyle habits and how you can take action on fixing the behavior. Have you ever tried changing a behavior but you were stuck in one of the stages in the picture below? Take a few moments to write down what stopped you from taking action and why you weren't able to sustain the new behavior. It's important to reflect on your past experiences so you are able to learn from your mistakes and be able tackle the obstacles in the future. 

To read more on The Stages of Change check out this link: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gttc/presentations/8eStagesofChange.pdf