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Self-Directed Change
With professional athletes, practice and good coaching help players master the ‘skills of the trade’. And so it is with you. Making changes in your
behavior requires practice and coaching, too. In this program, you’ll learn the skills of self-directed change. With these skills, you’ll be able to
continue with your behavior change plan even after you’ve completed the KOSAMA Lean program. There are three basic skills of self-directed
change. They are: (1) self-monitoring, (2) self-evaluation and (3) self-reinforcement. In self-directed change, you continue to cycle through these
three stages until you achieve your goals.
SELF-MONITORING
‘Self-monitoring’ is an activity whereby you observe those behaviors that you want to change. The behavior can be one that you currently do in
excess and want to decrease (such as eating ice cream when you watch television). Or it can be one you currently aren’t doing frequently enough
(such as exercising). To effectively self-monitor a behavior, it is important to record its frequency and duration.
SELF-EVALUATION
The process of ‘self-evaluation’ involves comparing the results of your self-monitoring process to the goals which you would like to achieve.
Setting realistic goals is an important part of the process. Remember, goals should be your own, specific and achievable. When you set goals
using these principles, you also create a workable action plan. The remaining step of action planning is specifying precisely what, when, where
and how you will achieve your goal statement.
ACTIVITY
In the space below, list a behavior you want to change AND how you would like to change it. The behavior can be one you are doing too frequently
(eating donuts every day at breakfast
…I’d rather eat cereal or toast at breakfast) or not enough (I’m not exercising enough
…I’d like to take a 15
minute walk at lunch).
Behavior:
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Goal:
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Step 1. Self monitoring—determine how you will monitor the behavior listed above. (Example: in the case of eating too many donuts
you might chose to write down what you eat every morning.)
Step 2. Self evaluation—in the space below, note how frequently you executed the behavior and how this observation compared with
your goal. (Example, “I usually eat donuts 5 days out of the week. My goal is to take a walk instead of having a donut.”)
Step 3. Self-reinforcement—choose a non-food reward if you have reached your goal. If you did not achieve your initial goal don’t
worry! Instead, apply the problem solving process to develop a revised action plan.
REWARDS:
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Are you satisfied with your outcome? If not, go back to step 2 and select an alternative strategy.
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“Instead of coming home first, I could pack my exercise clothes the night before . . . and go directly to KOSAMA.”
“I’ve been a bit late to work, I’ll alter my schedule so I can reschedule my session at KOSAMA.”