“Change is a door that can only be opened from the inside.” - Terry Neil 

 

Often when people set out to change something in their life, such as losing weight, the first challenge they face is their current readiness to change. Are you prepared to go through what you need to do to achieve your goal? Are you willing to pay the price? 

 

It is important that you understand this concept of paying the price. Where you are today and what you have in your life is a result of all the choices and decisions you have made; it is where you have wanted to be, if only unconsciously. 

 

Therefore, if you are going to change you need to accept that you are going to have to leave behind some things that you like! This means that you are going to have to put some significant effort into achieving what you want.  

 

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t start any health programme unless you are truly ready. 

 

The most important of these is that every time you try to do something and don’t achieve success, you build resilience to being able to change; in other words, you begin to see yourself as somebody who can’t change, and this becomes a self-filling prophecy. 

 

Where you are today and what you have in your life is a result of all the choices and decisions you have made.

 

So how do you discover if the time is right for you now? 

 

Below is a series of questions that will help you find the answer:  

 

• What will you gain from improving your health now? What will happen as a result of you achieving your goal? How will your life be better when you reach your desired outcome, your Vision? What will you gain that will make you happier?  

• What’s causing you to want to improve your health right now? What do you dislike about your current situation? Why do you feel it is necessary to change now? If you continue as you are what will you be like a year from now? What do you want to get rid of?  

• By becoming healthier now, what will you have to give up? What might you lose that you currently want to have? What do you have that you like, but will no longer be there once you have improved your health? 

• What might you gain that you don’t want to have? What kind of things will happen that you would prefer to avoid?

• How will your life be worse by going through your health programme? What might you attract that you would rather not have?  

 

 

Now Consider Your Answers, What Do You Notice?

 

The first two sets of questions identify why you are setting out on your path to change. You either want to have something that you haven’t currently got, or you want to lose something that you don’t want. It is the classic ‘pleasure – pain’ principle, you are either moving towards something pleasurable or away from something painful.  

 

The second two sets of questions are the ones that people rarely consider, primarily because the answers lie in your subconscious and you don’t really want them to surface. 

 

They reveal why you haven’t got your goal. 

 

They are the things that are pulling you back every time you set out on the path to your goal. These are very important things that you need to understand because unless you do you are unlikely to achieve your goal. 

 

Once again, they are related to pleasure and pain, there are some things which you find pleasurable and don’t want to give up and there are others which are painful which you don’t want to have. It, therefore, makes sense not to change! 

 

This is the reason why most of us live our lives in a state of conflict being pulled in different directions and never have a real feeling of satisfaction. 

 

By doing this exercise some people identify that they don’t want to change, they would prefer to stay where they are. They are unwilling to pay the price. 

 

There is nothing wrong with this because at least they are now making a conscious decision. I actually prefer people to do this because it is important that I work with people who are committed and ready to put the effort in. 

If that’s not you now, that’s okay, you’ll be ready sometime soon and then you can come back to this health programme. 

If on the other hand, you have now discovered the underlying things that have been holding you back and are really ready to go forward, great. 

 

I would strongly suggest you contact me, so l can help you build a clear strategy on how to move forward by ensuring you put in place things that will help you resolve those challenges. 

 

 

 

Chris, myHealthCoach