Stages of Change
Change is the cornerstone of growth, especially in the realm of health and fitness. Whether you’re aiming to alter body composition, build muscle, change a behaviour or habit, or adopt a healthier nutritional strategy, understanding the psychology that underpins change can be the difference between fleeting failed attempts and lasting transformation. Through working with clients over the past decade, the evidence is clear that the journey to better health and fitness is as much a mental endeavour as it is a physical one.
One the most effective frameworks for understanding and facilitating changes is the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TTM). This model outlines the stages that an individual goes through when aiming to modify a behaviour, providing invaluable insights for anyone looking to make a significant lifestyle shift.
For this insight, we’re going to delve into ten key takeaways from the TTM that we can explore and apply to your own health and fitness journey.
Understanding the Stages of Change
The TTM breaks down the process of change into five distinct stages:
Pre-contemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Recognising which stage you may be in depending on your journey can be an incredibly useful realisation. It allows you to tailor your approach, set realistic goals for where you are currently, and anticipate what future challenges you may face. For instance, if you’re in the contemplation stage regarding starting a new workout programme, forcing yourself into an intense training programme shared by a friend with years of exercising under their belt, may lead you to burnout quickly or even risk injury. Instead, acknowledging your stage helps in planning gradual steps that align with your level of readiness or preparedness.
2. Pre-contemplation Stage Challenges
In the pre contemplation stage, individuals often don’t see a need for any type of change. Denial is common, and there may be a lack of awareness about the negative impact that their current behaviours may be having on themselves of those around them.
Our strategy at this stage revolves around raising consciousness. Educating ourselves about the health risks that may be associated with our current behaviours such as inactivity, poor muscle mass, or declining sleep quality. This could involve seeing information from credible sources, consulting with health or medical care practitioners, or support groups of individuals with similar concerns.
3. Addressing Ambivalence in Contemplation
At this stage, contemplation is marked my ambivalence. You may recognise that change could be beneficial, but you aren’t quite sure yet if it’s worth the effort to change.
Our strategy at this point involves creating a greater decisional balance. Listing the pros and cons of changing vs staying the same, having them laid out in-front of you, seeing the benefits and drawbacks, can clarify whether your motivation is strong enough for change. For example, you might list the pros of beginning to exercise such as an increase in energy levels, better sleep, and enhanced mood against cons like the time commitment, possible expense, and the initial discomfort of exercise. Just this simple exercise can often reveal that the long-term benefits do in fact outweigh the possible short-term inconveniences that may occur.
4. Importance of Preparation
In the preparation stage, you’re ready to take action. Motivation is high, you can clearly see the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term discomfort. Now’s the time to begin to create plan of action.
Many of us will be familiar with the premise of goal setting and planning. The widely used SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) acronym is a useful starting point to being to piece together the path you’re looking to follow. Consider, and potentially gather, the resources that may be needed to support your goal. This could be something like taking up the option for free trial sessions at local gyms to find an environment you feel happy training in. It could mean purchasing the relevant clothing or footwear, or even containers for food preparation should this be part of the process.
5. Action Stage Implementation.
This is where the rubber meets the road, and you’re actively changing your behaviour. At this point in the journey, it becomes incredibly important to seek support as needed and aim to stack habits together that will help you in both the short and long-term. Engage with a community, possibly consider hiring a coach, or find a workout partner to hold you accountable. Consistency is key; as motivation wanes, lean into the habits that your building to keep you moving forward.
6. Maintenance for Long-Term Success
Reaching the stage of maintenance involves sustaining the new behaviour over time and preventing relapse into previous behaviours. To help in maintaining in the long-term involves identifying potential triggers that could derail you from your plan, and having strategies to handle them. For example, knowing how to alter your training when life begins get in the way and priorities shift such as when going on holiday, during busier working periods, or after injury or illness, can keep on on track when things start to part from the ideal.
7. Viewing Relapse as a Learning Opportunity
Part of this process is recognising that relapse isn’t a failure; it’s a common part of the change process. We are all humans, we make mistakes, we fall back into behaviours that prioritise immediate gratification rather than long-term outcomes. After a stressful day, choosing Netflix and a takeaway over a drive to the gym for a 45min HIT class, is so easy to justify in that moment. It doesn’t make anyone a bad person for making that decision. However it does provide us with the opportunity to analyse what led to the relapse into a previous behaviour without self-judgement. In this example, rather than cutting out a workout completely, we could have considered a shorter, home-based session through YouTube, or even Netflix with their Nike Club Workouts, to keep the pattern of behaviour intact.
8. Non-Linear Progression
As we’ve spoken about at length in previous insights, progress isn’t always straightforward. You will likely move backward and forward between stages. Some behaviours may be far simpler to change, others may take years for an individual to move past just the pre contemplation phase, never getting to the point of recognising the need to change. However, by understanding that setbacks are normal, and by maintaining a flexible mindset, and being patient with ourselves, we can move fluidly between stages with greater clarity and understanding.
9. Building Self-Efficacy
To move past the contemplation stage, belief in your ability to succeed is critical. If you can’t see a brighter future past the behaviour you’re looking to change, success is likely to be limited. Many individuals when looking to make these types of wide-ranging changes to behaviours around health and fitness, dip their toes into the water, never fully embracing the process and as a result, never reaching the required degree of change for maintenance over the long-term to be achieved. Acknowledging and celebrating your progress along the way, no matter how minor it may seem, can greatly help in providing you with the evidence to show that you can make progress, that change is possible.
10. Tailoring Interventions to the Individual’s Stage
One-size-fits-all solutions rather work when it comes to behaviour change interventions. Your strategies should align with your current stage. Assessing where you are honestly, and seeking interventions most specific to match your degree of readiness can greatly increase long-term success outcomes.
As a coach, for an individual at the early stages of this process, simply celebrating the smalls wins of someone turning up to sessions on time, a few times a week, getting in a good 45-50mins of hard work, can be a huge win all round. For others, this may involve a more detailed or nuanced level of support to solve specific behaviours related to very niche goals.
Putting It All Together
Understanding the TTM can help in equipping you with a simple, yet hugely practical roadmap for change. Here’s how you can use these 10 takeaways and apply it today:
Assess Your Current Stage: Is there a behaviour that you’re looking to change or adopt? Be honest with where you are.
Identify Appropriate Strategies: Match your actions to your starting point. If you’re contemplating, focus on gathering information that would help you in deciding if this behaviour change is possible, or something you’re looking to make a long-term change in. If you’re preparing, take a few moments and use the SMART acronym to turn the information gathered into an actual goal.
Anticipate Challenges: Think ahead about what may derail you. Consider what barriers could occur? Create contingency plans accordingly.
Seek Support: Whether its through friends, family, or through professional help and assistance, having a support system really does greatly increase your chance of success.
Be Patient and Compassionate with Yourself: Behaviour change is hard. Celebrate progress, no matter how small, and don’t dwell on setbacks, they’re an opportunity to learn.
Part of my role as coach, is to meet clients where they are. Not every individual seeks out help and support having systematically gone through this type of process. Some are looking to outsource the decision-making process to someone with greater knowledge in the area, others are just dipping their toes into the water, not sure if they’re willing or able to commit. But this is the process we’re working through together. Exploring ambivalence, assisting in developing a realistic plan to achieve your goal, providing guidance and support along the way, and hopefully helping individuals develop the self-efficacy needed to support long-term behaviour change.
Understanding that this is a process, not a singular event, allows for a more compassionate and effective approach. It respects your journey and acknowledges that lasting change does come from within.
Your Call to Action
Change starts with a single step, but understanding where to step is crucial. So it’s not often I’ll do this, but I challenge you, the reader, to reflect on your own health and fitness goals:
Which stage are you in right now?
What steps can you take today to move to the next stage?
Who can support you on this journey?
Take a moment to write down your thoughts. If you’re ready to move forward, reach out to a professional, join a community, take the free trial, or start the research you’ve been putting off.
Embrace the process, trust in your ability to make change, and take decisive action towards a healthier, stronger you.