My aunt and I had lunch the other day. We had been discussing excess weight loss and I pointed out my worry of regaining the forty lbs I have worked so challenging to lose when she explained, "It really is effortless to lose weight the difficult element is keeping it off."
In my several many years as an addictions nurse, I have always stated that the hardest point to do is to GET clean – to make the change and give up an addiction – and that it is much Easier to maintain the alter by staying clean one particular day at a time.
So which is more difficult – producing a alter or sustaining the modify?
WHY IS Change SO H.A.R.D.?
Generating a alter is H.A.R.D. due to the fact we have Habits, ATTACHMENTS, RESISTANCE and we get DISCOURAGED. site These are the techniques in which our mind functions to preserve the standing quo and stop adjust from taking place.
Habits are how we can find out to drive or variety and not have to focus our focus on the real task any longer. This is how we are ready to do much more than one thing at a time like drive and pay attention to the radio or target on the place we are going rather than how to in fact operate the vehicle.
We are Attached to men and women, spots and items. When we make a change, every little thing else adjustments too. Relationships alter. We must let go of ‘how issues were' and we frequently struggle simply because we want things or other folks to make the adjust also. It does not work that way. We want issues to be diverse than actuality truly is. And this causes us soreness.

We really feel loss and could knowledge mourning. We become fearful which causes us to encounter anxiousness, releasing adrenaline creating the ‘fight, flight or freeze' response. We freeze. RESISTANCE is concern. Resistance can present up as self-doubt, judgment or procrastination. We may make excuses and justify or rationalize that issues must keep the exact same in spite of how damaging it is to our nicely-getting.
Then, even when we do make an attempt to adjust, we get DISCOURAGED. We do not progress as rapidly as we like. It requires too long. The outdated routines hold us back. We miss specific issues. And we succumb to the ease of retaining factors as is. We are not able to sustain the focus needed extended sufficient to produce new habits and create the outcomes we want.
This is why change is H.A.R.D.
But, with dedication and vision, a supportive neighborhood, a robust inner determination and a optimistic belief in the possibility for success, by taking lots of infant actions and acknowledging your success along the way, you can and will modify. You've carried out it in the past.
Which is not so difficult.
What can make SUSTAINING THE Change difficult is that we forget we slip back into outdated habits we stop currently being vigilant, we begin revisiting the outdated stomping grounds. Just before you know it, you've returned to your outdated techniques. You regained the excess weight. You began smoking once more. You've picked up the drink or drug. And you happen to be right back where you commenced.
WHAT DO YOU Value?
THE Crucial TO Success is to by no means fail to remember what is essential to you. If you value becoming healthier and match, then emphasis on that – you can no longer eat like you utilised to. If you worth currently being clean and sober, then you need to dwell a clean and sober existence each day. If you value your loving partnership, then you must nurture that by living in loving methods every day. What does this imply for you? What ever your change, you have to determine the Key BEHAVIORS and ATTITUDES that are required to hold you on this new path.
Dedication to adjust means you commit NOT ONLY to producing the alter but to sustaining the modify. There is no this kind of thing as ‘accidental' slips. There is a element missing from your modify – both you lack dedication to the new existence or you have not however adopted the characteristics necessary for accomplishment.
A yo-yo dieter has not but committed to getting thin. An addict who picks up once again has not however committed to a sober way of life. It doesn't indicate you shouldn't keep trying but emphasis on committing and on becoming a NEW Person. This new particular person is various than the ‘OLD YOU'. Your self-picture a lot alter as you do. Modify does not only entail what you do but also who you grow to be in the process. Somebody who values overall health and fitness will not only get rid of fat but will keep a healthy lifestyle via nutrition and activity that will sustain the adjust.
So which is more difficult: creating the alter or sustaining it? I guess it depends upon your perspective. Folks who are genuinely ready for modify make it happen. You've done it by yourself and it really is been fairly effortless. Consider about your life. Bear in mind when you moved away from your parents or got married, determined to have children or transformed jobs when you really needed to make this modify? It was effortless, appropriate? And you had no problems moving on and in no way seeking back.
So why is it challenging occasionally and not others?
Adjust is tough and sustaining it can be hard also nonetheless, when you succeed at making a considerable change, frequently you locate that you are so committed to your new path there truly is no hunting back. You've turn into a new particular person and the old particular person you have been has essentially ‘died'. You are not that man or woman anymore. You are not a smoker you're a nonsmoker. You happen to be not obese you're healthy and fit. You are not single you happen to be in adore and happily so. When you alter your self-image and your private identity, it turns into fairly easy to sustain the adjust. You have a new existence. You happen to be a new person. It was hard to get right here.
Which is more difficult? Choose for yourself. I'd love to hear your ideas and stories of modify. Send an e-mail to Julie@JulieDonley.com.