In my 10 years as a Personal Trainer, I’ve never understood why those in my industry knock New Year's Resolutions and the Resolutioners that come with them.

Change is fickle S.O.B. in that some days you want it, and others, you want to beat it away with a stick (probably when you want to change most).

The five stages of change are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.They’re important to know, even more important to understand, but for the purpose of this newsletter, and from what I gather about the audience that reads this, you're probably either at the contemplation or preparation stage.

Let's take a quick sidebar to see what those two stages look like...

Contemplation is the stage in which people are aware that a problem exists and are seriously thinking about overcoming it but have not yet made a commitment to take action. This is the classic “I know I need to start exercising….” or “I would feel a lot better if I improved my sleep”. Lots of passive talk around a subject that you can control, but just aren’t ready to yet.

Preparation is a stage that combines intention and behavioral criteria. Individuals in this stage are intending to take action in the next month and have unsuccessfully taken action in the past year. This tends to be the realm I spend time in with my clients.

Hand up if you’ve ever said something like this; “I’ve been doing ____ but have fallen off recently”

Yeah, me too. I’m not shaming here.Rather than focus on WHERE you are in the 5 stages of change, I want to focus on what MOVES you through the stages.

Side bar number 2- if you want to focus on WHERE, just smash the reply button and we can talk about it, I think this is fascinating information to digest.

Okay, okay. So what MOVES you through the stages? I want to refer back to my opening line.

What the hell Fitness Peeps, why you gotta hate on New Year's Resolutions!?!

Events, of any kind, spark high levels of emotion. This can be a good emotion, like an offer to a new job, or a bad emotion, like a family tragedy. These emotions can trigger positive or negative spirals in your life. I’m sure as you read this you can think of periods of both extremes. In the context of change, and specifically, positive and consistent change, I think it’s important to identify that these events can be a catalyst that propels significant change.

Events, and the emotions that come with them, play a serious role in the cognitive functions of the body, specifically our ability to learn, retain, and ultimately make decisions. This is why when something happens, and we have an emotional response, we ultimately process the previous actions differently and can MAKE substantial change going forward.

(If you want to nerd out on the research, click here. Fair warning, it’s dense.)

So when even the smallest of events happen, like New Years Eve, or even something as simple as a family gathering over the 4th of July weekend take place, be aware and listen. These events can absolutely play a role in moving from contemplating action, to preparing to take action, to taking sustainable action for the long term.

July 4th 2020 was my day. My family was at a small party on the lake and having a good time. I looked around and saw my 18 month old daughter, my wife, and some of my close friends. For whatever reason, that snapped me out of my COVID19 induced slump. The 20 pound quarantine weight gain, the “will my career ever be the same” thoughts, and the always wondering health concerns, all seemed to be pushed into the distance.

That night Purposeful Strength was outlined on a piece of paper and the rollout plan was implemented shortly after. From there the roller coaster of positive action started to snowball. New business. Consistent exercise. Steady weight loss and now maintenance. Work stress is diminishing.

All from one (surprising) emotional event that pushed me from contemplation to action.

So, my friend on the other side of the screen, when your event happens, will you be ready for action?

Have a great week,

Casey

If you’re looking for something to help you take action OR if you have a goal, but need to break it down in to actionable steps…I have something that you need to check out.

Our ‘Start Here’ program starts with an Action Map that helps you lay out the strategies and tactics associated with your goal. From there, it guides you on how to pick the most obtainable action to literally start!