Annie Koslow Annie Koslow

Happy New Year! How to Make Your Resolutions Last All Year

As we recently rolled into 2018, many people made the New Year’s resolution to improve their health statuses whether that is through exercise, diet, or mental clarity. Building a habit is never easy which is why many resolutions don’t stick. The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change (TMHBC) is a psychotherapy model frequently used in the health community to assess barriers for making a habit. The model consists of six stages, each with its own definition and barriers, listed below.

Precontemplative stage

No intention to take action within the next 6 months

  • Barriers
    • May be uninformed or underinformed
    • Avoid learning more about negative behaviors
    • May have tried to change several times and became demoralized
  • Helpful Strategies
    • Learn! Do your research, reach out to professionals, ask your friends. Try to find success stories to make you feel more empowered
    • Be aware of the negative emotions that go along with your unhealthy behavior.

Contemplative stage

Intends to take action within the next 6 months

  • Barriers
    • Awareness of the balance between pros and cons can keep people from progressing through this phase
  • Helpful Strategies
    • Realize that the behavior is an important part of your identity. Your new behavior should have a positive impact on your identity.

Preparation stage

Intends to take action within the next 30 days and has taken some behavioral steps in that direction such as making a plan

  • Barriers
    • Difficulty accessing resources needed to implement plan
    • Lack of confidence with plan development
  • Helpful Strategies
    • Make a firm commitment to your change.
    • If needed, seek help from a professional to structure your plan. Examples: See a physical therapist for exercise plan development. See a dietician for meal planning strategies.

Action stage

Changed overt behavior for less than 6 months

  • Barriers
    • Staying motivated to continue with plan
  • Helpful Strategies
    • Please see my post on increasing compliance for more details. The footnotes include adding your item to a to-do list, setting a specific time for your behavior, keeping a journal of the positive benefits of your new behavior.
    • Seek out relationships that will support your behavior change.

Maintenance stage

Changed overt behavior for more than 6 months

  • Barriers
    • Incomplete confidence in behavior
  • Helpful Strategies
    • Stay positive and embrace any small relapses you might experience. Just because you went a few days without performing your positive new behavior does not mean you are back at square one. Recenter yourself and move past any inconsistencies.

Termination

No temptation to relapse and 100% confidence

  • You did it!

 

Realizing which category you are in can help you hone in on the barriers that may be preventing you from reaching your goals. The more aware you are of your progress, the better your chances are of completing your goal. (More details on my post on self-efficacy.)

Please keep in mind that nonlinear progression through these stages and regression is common. Don’t let regression frustrate you! Rather, embrace the fact that you have slipped (after all, you are human), and attack the barriers which encouraged your relapse. Best of luck, and Happy New Year!

 

Prochaska JO, Velicer WF. The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. Am J Health Promot. 1997;12(1):38-48.

Glanz K, Rimer BK, Viswanath K. Health Behavior and Health Education: Theroy, Research, and Practice, 4th Ed. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2008.

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