Changing behavior takes sustained focus

Changing behavioral patterns can be difficult. Perhaps you have tried or wanted to try to:

Stop smoking.
Lose weight.
Curtail your spending.
Control outbursts of anger.
Stop using alcohol or drugs.

One of the most common reasons that these efforts fail is a lack of persistence, commitment, dedication and sustained focus to changing the desired behavior.

We often start out like a thoroughbred with great effort, but end up like a tortoise – slowing our efforts and finally quitting altogether.

Here are some suggestions that might help individuals desiring behavioral change.

• Increase your focus on the targeted behavioral change by decreasing other competing behaviors. In other words, simplify your life, at least for the time it takes to achieve the desired behavioral change.

Jeff wanted to reduce his blood pressure. The professional he consulted suggested using relaxation techniques. However, Jeff was so busy in his career and extracurricular activities that he had little or no time to follow the suggestions necessary to integrate a relaxation technique into his lifestyle. Jeff needed to face the fact that until he was ready to make the necessary behavioral changes a priority in his life, change would be difficult, if not impossible.

• Avoid situations where elements of undesirable, competing behavior is present. Jane was trying to lose weight but couldn’t resist the temptation to follow the “lunch bunch” at her office to the pizza parlors, all-you-can-eat buffets and fast food/high fat restaurants. Bringing her own dietetic lunch or seeking out a restaurant with a salad bar would be more likely to help her attain her goals.

• Stress promotes pleasure-seeking, tension-reducing behavior, which often conflicts with the desired behavioral changes. Joe worked in a demanding work place, but he also produced a lot of the stress that he experienced with his high control/ perfectionistic approach to life. After work, he sought the sedating effects of alcohol and eventually became dependent on this and other mind-altering substances that produced temporary relief from the stress and tension that he experienced during the day.

Learning to handle stress more effectively by changing his perception of the world around him and his need to change and control everything would be helpful. Additionally, seeking out healthy ways to neutralize stress and tension such as exercise, relaxation exercise, yoga, meditation and other techniques could help divert him from the use of addictive and potentially unhealthy substances.

• Joining a support group can be helpful in attaining behavioral change. Sharing experiences, successful approaches to behavioral change and encouragement from those with similar needs and problem can all aid the individual trying to change a behavior.

Copyright c 1997 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.