STEPS to Change: A Brief Tutorial

As a counselor, coach, and addiction strategist – I am consistently running into the question of HOW to change behavior. The answer is simple, but not EASY. It will require work on your part.

The First Step is to pay attention! Become a tape recorder of your thoughts and feelings. WRITE IT DOWN if you need a record to identify the pattern! People do not just do things.  They think and feel before they act.  The more an action is repeated the more it becomes a habit. What does this MEAN? The longer the behavior is repeated, the less thinking and feeling is required.   

Step two: Recognize when those thoughts and feelings have the risk of leading you to do something unhelpful. Recognize that certain thoughts and feelings lead to certain actions.  For example, anger can lead to self-sabotage and a return to old behavior/use/habit. Notice when you react out of fear, spite, or resentment.  

Step three: develop new thoughts that will reduce the risk of doing something unhelpful. I like pointing people to AFFIRMATIONS! Pinterest and Google are great search engines to find affirmations to fit any situation you may be going through.

Step four is to practice, practice, practice. This may look like daily meditations, repeating affirmations to yourself, following a schedule to implement a new behavior into your daily routine, etc.

And there you have it. Simple, NOT easy. It takes work. Radical acceptance, brutal honesty, personal accountability, willingness, and follow-through.

If you need assistance with this- I am just a phone call/text/message/email away! Let me know how I can support and assist you in creating more helpful behaviors in your life!