Changing Behaviour
I trained as a PTI in the RAF ( I know almost the Military), and on leaving I worked in the Commercial Fitness Sector. It was a very different world, despite being mainly around Fitness Management, the approach vastly differed from what I had 'grown up' doing in the RAF. The first challenge I faced was understanding the fact that people start exercising, pay monthly fees and then promptly drop out, keep paying fees for an indefinite period without visiting and then cancel. Almost like a drawn out death. The 'Retention' issue was and still is a major issue within Health & Fitness Sector (I am not going to dive into why it is and why it's not been solved now), so I did what I had done in my last RAF role as a Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor, I looked for evidence, I researched and I sought to understand my new 'field'. It led me to several papers and experts on Behaviour change. One of which, is commonly taught to students in the area of Health, Fitness and Disease Management, the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change.
What has this got to do with the Changing Gear from the Military to Veteran and second career? Surprisingly, a lot more than you realise.
Let me lay out the five stages of behaviour change in this particular model. Oh, before academics and naysayers bombard me, there are other valid models of behaviour change, but this isn't the OU and I only have a certain number of characters available!
The five stages of change are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
- Precontemplation is the stage at which there is no intention to change behavior in the foreseeable future. Many individuals in this stage are unaware or underaware of their problems.
- Contemplation is the stage in which people are aware that a problem exists and are seriously thinking about overcoming it but have not yet made a commitment to take action.
- Preparation is a stage that combines intention and behavioral criteria. Individuals in this stage are intending to take action in the next month and have unsuccessfully taken action in the past year.
- Action is the stage in which individuals modify their behavior, experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems. Action involves the most overt behavioral changes and requires considerable commitment of time and energy.
- Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse and consolidate the gains attained during action. For addictive behaviors this stage extends from six months to an indeterminate period past the initial action.
Now depending on wether you are Serving, approaching the window of CTP or are a Veteran, you are in one of these stages. As a Veteran, you could be moving from 5 back to 1 depending on circumstances!
Now this model is frequently used in exercise terms, but also in smoking/ drug/alchohol cessation, post cardiac surgery rehabilitation, but it's not hard to see how you can apply this as you consider the Changing Gear.
Maybe recognising the stages and where you think you are is a good start?