How to Commit to Change so that it lasts
Change is healthy and necessary, and the fast-paced world in which we live is constantly changing. If we fail to adapt and commit to change, then we will fail to thrive in life. If you sit down and reflect honestly, you will probably observe that change is the only constant thing in our lives.
It is imperative that we learn to adapt and commit to change.
Here are a few ways to help you commit to change.
#1: Define your commitment
First things first, define what type of change you want to commit to. In the 8-week to feeling fabulous program we spend time to get clear and honest with ourselves about what we really want to change and why. When the WHY is big enough you will move mountains.
If you do not know what you are committing to, then you will never be able to deeply commit to change.
Be clear and be honest while defining your commitment. Make a plan by defining why you are doing this and how are you going to do this. You can use a notebook for this purpose and journal about what you really want for your future self.
Let’s use the example of fitness. If you do not like the condition your body is currently in, you might decide to change it.
You must define why are you doing this; be as clear, honest and detailed as you can. Then draft a plan regarding the methods you are going to practice achieving this, such as improving your eating habits and increasing your physical activity.
This will make you aware of what you are committing to and prepare yourself for the work ahead.
#2: Do not be a spectator
The second thing to improve commitment to change is to make sure you are not “faking it!”
Don’t say you want to change without participating in the effort.
Commitment is an obligation that you cannot fulfil if you do not fully engage with it.
I did this for years about ditching the booze. I wanted the change, I wanted the better sleep and the calmer nerves but I wasn’t ready to doing the work. Once I made a commitment to myself, doing the work and being persistent became so much easier. I had to dig deeper into my WHY. Once the reason why became bigger than the perceived benefits of the habit, the change was easy.
Staying with the example of fitness, you are just “checking the block” if you are just going to the gym to say you went to the gym.
If you are not changing your eating habits as well; you will not reach the results you want. I love helping women make lasting change in all areas of life. This goes beyond gut healing and becomes a who life journey.
Once you have a small success in one area of your health you will also have the motivation to change other areas of your health.
Before you know it, you are sleeping all night long, feeling great about yourself, feeling lighter and more aligned to your life purpose.
To get the best results and to fully embrace the change, you have to commit to a healthy overall lifestyle with persistent effort AND by changing your eating habits.
You must completely invest yourself in what the change requires.
#3: Be persistent
Commitment requires persistence.
You cannot chicken out because you are finding it hard to adapt to change or if the change is not immediately working out for you. That is not how it is done. To acquire great results from the change, you have to practice persistence.
Again, using the example of fitness, some days you will do well; you will eat healthy meals and you will workout like a beast. Other days will not go so smoothly.
These small failures only equate to big failures if you do not persevere and power past them to try again the next day.
You must be persistent to get the results your heart desires.
#4: Revisit and Refresh your motivations often.
Motivation is not permanent; it requires revisiting and refreshing. Motivation doesn’t fall out of the sky and land in your lap. It happens once you start to make progress.
Go back to your notebook where you defined your commitments. Re-read those reasons and plans that you wrote down while you were defining your commitments when you were powerfully motivated.
This will reignite that spark. If your motivations have changed, draft your plan again and add some new reasons to the list. Your reasons WHY will change as you get older. Maybe it has gone beyond your kids and becomes more about your energy, your life purpose and what you want to achieve in this life.
Committing to change—any change—is significant and can be daunting.
Take some “baby steps” with these four tips to get started and remember that slow and steady wins the race.
If you would like to learn more about my 8 weeks to feeling fabulous guided program book a free discovery call so we can see if the program is right for you. Book a time that is suitable here
Yours in health and wellness,
Trish Tucker-May