Why Behavior Change Is Hard?

Behavior change is hard because we often develop habits. Anyone who has tried to break a bad habit can tell you how difficult this is for them. Habits actually rewire our brain. This is great if it is a positive habit, like working out or meditating. However, if it is a more negative habit such as smoking or regularly consuming too much alcohol, it can have disastrous consequences.

In psychology, there is a theory that people need to go through certain steps or stages before they can successfully change an old behavior. This model is called the transtheoretical stages of health behavior change. It seeks to show how people permanently make changes to their behavior and why.

The first stage is called contemplation. In this stage, someone is not even aware that they should or want to change the behavior. People in this stage are unconcerned about the behavior and may not understand why others are concerned. This is common with someone who is so addicted to a substance that they do not realize the impact their use is having on others.

The next stage is called contemplation. Someone in this stage may recognize that their behavior hurts their life, but they may not be ready to change it. People in this stage often struggle with feeling ambivalent since they recognize that behavioral change is hard.

The third stage is preparation. In this stage, the person has decided to change and is setting up a plan to implement this change. At this stage, people are fully committed to changing their behavior. This leads to the next stage, which is action. This is the stage where the plan developed in the previous stage is fully put into place. Understandably, it is in this stage when others recognize the behavior change since others easily observe it.  

After a time, people who have committed to changing their behavior move into the maintenance stage of the process. This is when the new behavior becomes an identifiable habit. During this change process, a person can relapse and go back to their old behavior. 

Obviously, this is a lot of steps for a person to go through before they can change; it is no wonder that behavior change is so hard for many people.