Making Change Happen

I have an uncle who had open heart surgery done in March. He has been a smoker for many years. Despite his operation and going through his recovery process he has not given up smoking. They say that the older you get the harder it is to change your ways. I have wondered why it is so hard for people to change.

Change can be easy for some and fairly hard for others. Change doesn’t just happen. It has to go through five distinct stages in order for it to happen. Each stage holds a significant key to our progress in pursuing change.

I have found this to be true in different instances in life. I want to reveal the five stages that lead to change. I will also share a few ways you can change faster than usual.

The 5 Stages of Change
The Precontemplation Stage is really when you are in the unaware of a problem or situation. I call this the “Duh” moment, where you have no intention of changing because you do not even realize your situation or problem exists.

The Contemplation Stage is when we recognize something needs to be changed in or situation or problem, but we haven’t committed ourselves to action that will make change happen in our lives.

The Preparation Stage is when we decide to take action. We may have a set date to start or just believe that we need to do it very soon in the next couple of weeks or month. This brings us to a place where we need all the courage & encouragement, to motivate us to step out of our familiar place into permanent change.

I call this the “New school experience,” where we are venturing out to a new school of experience that is unfamiliar to us, where we will meet new people, challenges and develop better habits.

The Proceeding Stage is where you decide to move forward in you endeavor and take the bull by the horns. We design a step by step process to overcome our situation or problems. This is when we stop talking about it and start walking into a new path. I call this the “Star Trek experience” where we boldly go where no man has gone before.

The Maintenance Stage is where we work on our newly ventured endeavor, making sure we pay attention to our gains, prevent losses and stay on the new path that we have chosen to make this change a new healthy habit.

Quickest Ways 2 Change
The quickest way to influence change is by head and your heart. In fact, the heart is the one that really persuades us to pursue change or purchase things. So it is very important we utilize our emotions when we decide we need to make a needed change in our lives.
Whatever you practice for 24 days or more becomes a habit.
Asking Yourself Powerful Questions
Ask yourself powerful questions to get you through the changing process. We can utilize powerful how and what questions to help us make a decision quicker about changing.

Here are 2 suggestions:

How many ways will my new rainy day fun help me with my finances?
What other ways can I make money to add to my new rainy day fund?

Stop Negative Self-Talk
We are one of the most powerful hindrances to our changing ourselves and our lives. We have a way of talking about everything that we cannot do or put up with in life. The more we tell ourselves these negative statements the more our subconscious mind agrees with us and continues to make our erroneous beliefs a reality.

Whenever you find yourself saying “I can’t” stop your sentence and do not continue with your statement.

Rephrase negative statements by saying:
“In the past, I have been unsuccessful in relationships, however I am now attracting more eligible mates who meet my needs and vice versa.”

“In the past, I was clueless with handling my finances, however now I am educating myself by reading books, listening to CD’s on financial wealth and sharing this with my family. I now know how to attract more money making opportunities, handle money, and save money and it feels great.”

Be Action Oriented
Stop procrastinating with the things that you want to do. Stop contemplating about starting things.

"Behold the turtle: He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out." James Bryant Conant 1893-1978, Educator and Diplomat

“Just Do It” Nike’s Slogan
"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" Anne Frank

"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." Napoleon Hill

Now go make change happen today.