Week Four of my #MotivationMonday series on Change. This week we are talking all about Action.
Action is the stage in which people most overtly modify their behavior and surroundings. This is where you walk the talk of the previous stages.
Now, the action stage is the most visible stage of change. You modify your behavior and implement the plan of action you prepared. Action requires the greatest commitment of time and energy.
Remember, Action is only the fourth stage of Change. There are six. So action has the possibility to be deceiving, in the sense that it sounds like it is the end stage of change. But it isn’t. You’re just over half way there.
Disappointed?
Don’t be. It takes a lot of energy to make a change. You may feel like you are really doing well. It’s day one and you called that friend instead of binging on candy at 4 p.m. Go you! The newness and high of the change has the ability to fuel the change for a while, but the fuel that feeds the day to day maintenance is not in place yet.
This is where change is very tricky. At this stage, most people erroneously equate action with change, overlooking the important, more challenging efforts needed to maintain the change.
You have to maintain the change. You might be surprised to discover that encouragement is scarce and find support dwindling just when you need it most.
It’s one thing to stop binging on candy at 4 p.m. for seven straight days in a row after five years of this behavior. It’s another thing to be in your third week of this change and discover that you forgot your tennis shoes, and your friend didn’t pick up the phone. Now what?
Remember, change never ends with action.
Join me next Monday, when we talk about Maintenance.
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