Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/702972
Ask Bill has a master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and has been a licensed professional counselor since 1987. He has 23 years of individual and relational counseling experience and was formerly an adjunct instructor in counseling psychology at Mississippi College. He has been a reserve deputy for 12 years with the Madison County Sheriff's Office and is a ruling elder at Grace Chapel Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He adores his wife of 33 years and their two grown children. Sure, often we change our behaviors for various reasons. However, change is usually short-lived, as our old ways of behaving begin to slowly creep back into our mode of operation. This is evidenced by the billions of dollars spent on diet plans and other fad processes to change something about the way we are behaving. How many of us have seen people we know, including ourselves, possibly, lose weight on a diet program only to gain it all back, or set New Year's resolutions only to falter and quit a short time later? Let's not forget those of us on the other end of the continuum who are compulsive in our behaviors, such as exercise-aholics, diet-aholics, work-aholics, etc. Both ends of the continuum are not good. A mindset is a perspective that we develop based on what we believe or hold to be true. We can tell a great deal about one's beliefs by the way one behaves. Therefore, changing a belief is a great way to change behavior that needs to stay changed. Compare these two thoughts: "I must lose 20 pounds in the next eight weeks if I am going to look good in my bathing suit." "I am exercising to improve my health and to feel better." Which do you think stands a better chance of developing into long-term behavior change? If you said the second statement, you are correct! The first thought seems to be forced and time-limited. I get stressed just reading it! When I read the second statement, I feel more in control over my behavior, and I have not set myself up to fail. Commit yourself to a realistic plan that allows for moderate goal setting and is open-ended in time frame. Changing mindsets is not necessarily difficult. If you need help setting new ways of thinking, connect with a counselor or someone you trust to be objective to help develop and evaluate your changing mindsets. MINDSETS FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE BEING A COUNSELOR FOR DECADES AND BEING A PART OF THE HUMAN RACE FAR LONGER THAN THAT, I KNOW THAT CHANGING ONE'S BEHAVIOR IS A DIFFICULT THING TO DO. 14 s t d o m .c o m LOCAL