Step 3: Getting ready

This stage combines intending to change with making some small changes in behavior. In this stage, your intention and behavior crank up a notch. This means more reinventing and imagery, plus some baby steps toward the real thing.

For example, exercising has been on your to-do list for years. After watching some fitness shows on TV, you fantasize about looking like the people in them. Then you decide you could do those exercises. So you start making tapes of the shows to fit them in when your schedule permits. Plus, you’re walking to work more frequently, when you used to take a cab or drive to work.

Step 4: Starting

This is when you begin exercising on a regular basis. But this is the stage where most people equate change, overlooking the other steps that are part of the process. This is understandable, since in this fourth step you actually choose some type of exercise or group of activities and start working out.

People can see that you’ve changed your behavior in order to overcome your comfort zone that has kept you from getting fit. You appear to have gotten off your duff by committing time and–yes–energy.

This is the most challenging stage. Many people overdo it. Then if they hurt or exhaust themselves, they become discouraged and drop back to Step 1. If you have begun exercising andkept at it for anywhere from a day to six months, you may think you’re home free. Unfortunately, it’s not so. For true change, you must also develop new habits and skills to keep from falling back and skills to deal with new problems.

One way to start is to announce to the world what you’re about to undertake. Once you’ve publicly connected yourself with exercise, social support pushes you to keep the connection. If you stop, people may ask what happened, and you probably won’t feel good about admitting failure.

Your pronouncement is your “coming out.” It can involve very personal meanings and is different for each person. It often involves a dramatic statement or gesture that signals a break from the past. You’re declaring that the rest of your life will be different from your past. Your coming out could be as simple as buying your first pair of workout shoes or joining a gym.

Starting also involves making slight adjustments in your world. Move your exercise equipment to a more convenient location or join a gym that is on your way to or from work, or close enough to visit on your lunch hour, rather than one you have to make an effort to get to.

In this phase, you should give yourself plenty of positive reinforcement. Promise yourself a treat if you exercise today. Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, or get tickets to some show or concert or ballgame you would like to see. Use your imagination to reward yourself for signs of progress.