Thursday, February 25, 2016

How To Lock In Behavior Change: What Does Love Have To Do With It? Part 3

Experience gained from my 30+ years  in practice as a cognitive-behavioral psychologist shows that with the right tools people readily learn to elevate and maintain emotional well-being and happiness. 

At the Think Right Feel Right Blogoscope you will find the behavioral tools and techniques that help to ward off anxiety, depression and addiction.  You will learn about ways to defeat troubling emotions such as anger, worry and sadness.  You will also find practical strategies for increasing self-esteem, positivity and for being a happier you. 

How to Lock In Behavior Change.  Sadly, as New Year's resolutions have shown, good intentions are often ineffective strategies for behavior change.  If we want to succeed at our efforts to lose weight, stop worry, be on time, or acquire self-esteem, we need to follow a strategy that promotes effective follow through. To lock in more successful change, I encourage people to create and follow a six-step plan.  A six-step plan clarifies the necessary elements for behavior change and locks in the essential follow through that is needed for success.  

A six-step plan assures more reliable improvement in self-esteem. Preparing a good plan entails developing clear answers for each of the following: who is responsible, what is the desired behavior, when will it occur, where will it occur, how often will it occur, is the goal attained, and finally, did I miss any steps today.  

So, if I want to improve my self-esteem with a corrective cognition, my six-step plan might look something like this:

1) I will think,
2) I am fully committed to love myself, unconditionally, forever
3) Ten times a day.
4) Prompting this thought each time I use the stairs,
5) For 30 days, or until this new way of thinking becomes my
    customary way of thinking about myself,
6) And, at the end of each day, I will check to make sure that I
    completed my six-step plan and, if not, I will complete steps 2
    and 3 before I go to bed tonight.
   


The idea behind  using six-step plans is to make sure that we  have thought through the details about behavior change  and that we are following through on them correctly.  Step 2 highlights the precise wording of the corrective cognition.  Step 6 is there to prevent slippage or failure through oversight. These techniques are discussed in greater detail in Think Right, Feel Right .  

Remember to stay tuned to #ThinkRightFeelRight for more practical #self-help


   
  

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