Dr. Phil's Stages of Readiness

Make fun of me if you want, but I am a HUGE Dr. Phil fan. I have heard him mention a few times about the four Stages of Readiness, and every time it makes me think of weight loss and getting healthy. It was true for me. Any thoughts?

4 Stages of Readiness

Stage 1: Compelled by Authority

This is the very first stage of change in which a person does not really know or believe they have a problem. Authority may be one of many different figures. A doctor may have told you to lose weight or you may die. A judge may tell you to go to rehab or go to jail. A parent may tell a child to do their homework or fail school.

If change occurrs at this level, it rarely stays long. Once the authority has turned their back and stopped paying attention, the behavior returns.
Stage 2: Comply to Escape Criticism

The second stage involves a bit more choice for the change. In this situation, the person needing the change may be facing criticism from any of a number of sources including friends, family, peers, society, religious leaders, media, etc… Tired of the nagging they are feeling, they decide to change.
Unfortunately, change at this level is not significant or long lasting either. Once a person feels the criticism diminsh, they fall back into old patterns easily.

Stage 3: Intellectually Aware of the Need for Change

At this stage, a person will begin to realize for themselves, that there is a need to change. They may begin to notice warning signs or side effects that are unpleasant. While they may have seen these things previously, they might not have attributed them to the actual issue. An over weight person may start to notice shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles, an inability to perform tasks that were previously simple to do. Someone who tends to think negatively may now discover that their friends want to spend less and less time with them and they are unable to get a better job.
When change occurs at this stage, it may still be temporary. The individual making the change is attempting to treat the symptoms more than to address the underlying concern.

Stage 4: Mentally and Emotionally Self-motivated for Change

Once a person has reached stage 4, lasting change is likely to occur. An individual can’t be made to reach this stage but must come to it on their own. This is the stage when a person is sick and tired of being the way they are. They not only know intellectually, but feel emotionally, the strains that their behavior is causing on themselves and others around them. At this point, a person may not know what it takes to change, but they are willing to do WHATEVER it takes. They will commit and not stop despite any and all barriers that have previously held them back as well as any new barriers they have never faced before. At this stage, a person is on a mission an nothing is going to stop them.

***Information from http://goldeneaglescoaching.com/change/ready-change/