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Are You Ready for a Change?

I know that change is not easy, but it is not impossible. The lifestyle changes in Sleep Program take commitment and patience. We all want to be healthier, and we know that we must do something to make these changes. You are probably reading this blog post (thank you!) because the amount of sleep, therefore, actually making the lack of sleep you are getting, is not working for you. I wish to remind you that change is an ongoing process.

So, I wish to talk about how you know you are ready for change and how best to achieve this. In a research carried out and explained in the book Changing for Good, Drs DIClemente & Prochaska and John C. Norcross, Ph.D., described what they learned when they studied more than 1,000 people who were able to positively and permanently alter their lives without psychotherapy. They found that change does not depend on luck or willpower.

Instead, it is a process that can be successfully managed by anyone who understands how it works. Once you determine which stage of change, you’re in, you can create a climate where positive change can occur, maintain motivation, turn setbacks into progress, and make new beneficial habits a permanent part of your life. I am those things to my sleep clients during the 4-week program, (& beyond if wished).

What are the five stages of change, let’s look at them.

Precontemplation

Individuals in this stage are not even thinking about changing their behaviours. They haven’t seen that their lifestyle is a problem affecting their health.

Contemplation

Individuals in this stage are willing to consider the possibility that they have a health problem, and the opportunity offers hope for change. However, in this stage, people are often ambivalent. They are on the fence. What lets me know if someone in this stage will ultimately be successful is if he or she shows scepticism (“I don’t believe this, but I’m willing to look at more information”) rather than cynicism (“I don’t believe; it’s untrue”). Contemplation is moving in the right direction toward change, but it is not a commitment.

Determination

Individuals in this stage will make a serious attempt to improve their lifestyle behaviours very shortly. They are ready and committed to action. They have garnered enough information (from reading books, talking to people, being reflective & honest in their view of their live & health) and now are convinced that behavioural change may improve their health.

Action

Individuals in this stage put their plan into action, making changes to their life which will have a positive impact on their sleep. In a few weeks, they start to see results, and nothing succeeds like success. A person who had implemented my sleep plan begins to see it work and experience a positive change in the sleep, and therefore their health, daily life, etc. all start to improve.

Maintenance

I tell my patients all the time that humans are the only species on the planet that finds something that works and then stops doing it. Change requires building a new pattern of behaviour over time and sticking to it. It is expected. When you’re feeling great, you’ll want to change your bedtime, drink that coffee to late in the day.

However, after you do that, I bet you won’t feel so great anymore, and the value of maintenance will become evident. Its human nature to blow it and go back to bad habits or old ways. Then we feel lousy, get back on track and feel better again, the temptation of the small top-up of a glass of wine (“I’ll just have a little top-up”) too late at night will dissipate.

After six months of maintaining your new lifestyle choices, the researchers found that old lifestyle habits no longer pose a significant danger or threat.

The ready-to-change quiz

Taking the Ready-to-Change Quiz (below) will help determine if you are genuinely ready to start my sleep program. I’ve found that the most successful people come to this point in their lives at the determination stage. They’re ready and excited, but they need guidance. This quiz will allow you to gauge your desire, receptivity, and commitment to improving your health. We all would like to assume that we’ll do whatever it takes to be healthy, but in reality, that’s usually not the case. You may have the desire to be healthier but are stuck in the contemplation stage.

Your willingness to be successful in this program, your wishes need to align with your determination. If you can answer these questions positively, you know that you are ready to make a change. If your answers reveal an unwillingness, you need to explore what beliefs are holding you back.

For many of my previous clients, what has pushed them off the fence and into the program is seeing they are currently on insomnia & medication cycle. It then becomes that “OMG” moment for them when their GP / doctors cannot offer any other support or method for them except prescribing sleeping pill &/or anti-depressants.

Then there are no longer having the same effect, which means the dose has to increase. It is that “catch 22” situation as the sleeping pills & anti-depressants are heightening the problems, anti-depressants cause sleeping problems & sleeping tablets cause mood swings & depression, so they become a slow downward spiral.

So know I have helped explain the circumstance you might be finding yourself in or certainly heading towards due to the lack of sleep.