Simba needed to be jolted into action, and Rafiki’s staff proved to be an effective tool. Of course, if you’re in a helping relationship with a person who is trapped in a cage of guilt and self-blame, you must never hit him on the head with your staff. That technique works wonder s in cartoons, but it will destroy a helping relationship in real life.
So how do you jolt a person into action if he’s stuck in the same bad habits that threatened to ruin Simba’s life?
Here’s an idea: Make popcorn, get comfortable, and invite him to watch The Lion King with you. If the person is in stage 1 or stage 2, the movie will hit him on the head for sure. It may even jolt him into action and accelerate the cycle of self- change.
As soon as you’ve decided to change, it’s time to schedule your Decision Day. Set a date and announce your intention to take action: “I will stop smoking on the first of the month.” Put your commitment in writing.
One of the keys to successful self- change is to develop your own plan. The critical element in any program is the confidence of the person who is using it. If you believe the program will work, you have a better chance of making it work. The best way to do that is to create your own plan.
Preparing for a total lifestyle change The key to success in this stage is reevaluating your life. The greatest motivator is a vision of what your life will be like when you break your bad habit.
Being prepared for change means that you set goals for yourself. The best way to do this is to write a personal mission statement. Make a list of the benefits of changing. How does each of these benefits help you achieve your goals in life?
The key to freeing yourself from bad habits is to change your lifestyle. A total lifestyle change isn’t something that happens overnight. It happens one day at a time, as soon as you begin to focus on the solution instead of the problem. The process of total lifestyle change starts when you begin to think more about the present than the past.
