RESOLUTION SOLUTION

New Year’s resolutions never seem to stick. JULIE PETERS explores a holistic approach to change.

- JULIE PETERS

2020 WAS A HELL OF A YEAR, and many of us have been looking forward to a new beginning—one that might involve better overall wellbeing. Want to meditate more in 2021 or spend more time in nature?

Traditional resolutions almost never stick. Why do we so often fail at making change?

One theory that might provide an answer is the Transtheoretical Model of Change—or, less pretentiously, the Stages of Change theory. This idea was developed by psychologists in the 1970s and 1980s. The idea is that change doesn’t happen all at once. Instead, it needs careful contemplation and preparation. The stages are as follows:

1 PRECONTEMPLATION: Not ready to admit something might need to change.

2 CONTEMPLATION: Considering that something might need to change, but not ready to really do anything about it.

3 PREPARATION: Getting ready to change by, for example, implementing supports and doing research.

4 ACTION: Making the actual change.

5 MAINTENANCE: Keeping the change going for at least six months.