Sometimes making progress involves lots of changes. So why not change it all at once?

Often, we don't just need one thing to be better; several things need to change. People often ask me what the research says about forming habits. Is it better to just focus on changing one thing at a time, or should you create a whole cluster of new behaviors at once to really make the difference?

My answer comes from the experts on behavior change, particularly James Prochasca PhD, and Janice Prochasca PhD, responsible for the Stages of Change Model, and several great books on creating and sustaining behavior change.*

FACT: Making progress on multiple behaviors that all serve the same goals can create synergy.

This is an effect where progress on one behavior makes it easier to make progress on others. You begin experiencing the benefits faster, causing a cascade of energy and confidence that can be fed back into the behavior change process. This greatly improves the likelihood that you will successfully navigate the whole behavior change process and exit with change that you are confident in, without temptation to relapse or destroy your progress.

FACT: You may have shared motivation for multiple behaviors, without being in the same Stage of Change on each of them.

For example, wanting to have better energy, focus, well-being, and a longer fuse at work or home...all those motives could be your reason for changing sleep behaviors, fitness behaviors, and even dietary behaviors. Just exercising won't make you better to be around if you're still deeply sleep deprived, yeah? And sometimes just sleep isn't enough to energize you if your fitness activity is dormant. You get the idea.

Let's review the 6 Stages of Change
(aka the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change)

STAGE 1: PRECONTEMPLATION: this is the stage at which you're not ready; you're not intending to take action in the next six months.

STAGE 2: CONTEMPLATION: this is the stage at which you're getting ready; you intend to take action in the next six months.

STAGE 3: PREPARATION: This is the stage where you are ready to take action in the next thirty days.

STAGE 4: ACTION: This is the stage where you have made the behavior change but have done it for less than six months.

STAGE 5: MAINTENANCE: This is the stage where you've been doing the behavior for more than six months, and work to solidify it against temptations to quit.

STAGE 6: TERMINATION: At this stage you are confident with the change, and not tempted to relapse or cease the behavior.

How to Form Multiple Habits

Okay so here's the key to forming multiple habits.

1. Start by identifying the benefits of the new behaviors you want to form. It isn't the habit itself that you crave in your life...it's what that behavior will give you. Don't just assume that because a behavior was a key to success for someone else that it will bring the same success to you. Start with what you WANT, then think into the behaviors likely to give that TO YOU.
2. List the behavior changes you think are necessary and effective to bringing you what you want. Write them each out separately, and make sure there's nothing on the list that doesn't serve your major purpose.
3. Identify where you are at in the stages of change on each, separate behavior. As you do this, beware of our human tendency to assume we've successfully navigated Stage 1: Precontemplation. It's actually quite common for us to start trying to "do differently" about things that we still don't even want to change. If your gut says "I don't want to," "wish I didn't have to," or "I know I should" then those are signs that you might actually be in Stage one on that behavior. Let yourself be where you are. It will help you make genuine progress.
4. Make small, clear goals of how to PROGRESS in the stage you're in about each of the habits you want. Use the example below to help you unpack this for yourself.
5. Amplify the synergy. Noticing progress allows you to regain energy to keep working. Let the progress you're making in one area encourage your progress in others, rather than trying to be in the same stage on everything you're working to change.

Example of a habit cluster, with behaviors in various stages of change:

For someone wants to stop being so emotionally drained, physically tired, and mentally fuzzy, they have decided that a cluster of behaviors would improve all of these things. Those behaviors are:

• Exercising regularly, with no fewer than 3 days of cardio a week.
• Sleeping at least 7 hours a night.
• Intermittent fasting for 14 hours a day.

Our friend knows nothing is really going to get substantively better with their energy until they exercise regularly. But it's been years since even a once-a-week exercise has been a thing. When they're honest, they admit they don't feel like doing it, don't think they have time, and hate how exhausting cardio is. They don't like to sweat. It's just gross. Though this seems like the clearest one to "take action" on, they correctly identify that they're in STAGE 1 on it.

Sleeping at least 7 hrs a night is what's recommended by the experts at the National Sleep Foundation.** Our friend knows this because they've been thinking about this for a while. It's not fun anymore to pretend they'll sleep when they're dead. They want that feeling of being really rested. They don't know exactly how to change it for themselves, but they want to. For this behavior change, they're already in STAGE 2.

Intermittent fasting for 14 hours a day is something our friend stumbled on because their friend was doing it. As a way to stop eating a little earlier at night, and have clearer thinking the next day, our friend has already done it successfully most days for the past two weeks. They are taking action, hoping not to fall off the apple cart, but doing it. For the intermittent fasting, our friend is actually in STAGE 4.

I don't think I would have put this together on my own, but it's true. The experts have documented that people changing multiple behaviors are rarely in the same stage of change on all of them. That means even if you're ready to start doing something different about your exercise, you may still be wrapping your head around what would improve your sleep. Or maybe you know how to catch more zzzz...you've even successfully done it before, you just need to solve why you keep falling off the wagon. And eating differently may feel inevitable, but your brain still says "naaaahh...I'm not going to eat like that." Those are all different stages in the process of change.

Behavior change is a process...the goal of habit formation is to make progress in the stages.

Each stage has its own goals, and navigating from one through to the next means successfully completing that stage's goals.

At the end of the day, the biggest monkey wrench I see in people's habit creation is the fact that they assume they're ready to act -- that it's time to "just do it" -- when in reality, they're still either not ready to change (It's called Precontemplation), or they're working through the the doubts and delays of wanting to wait until something changes (Contemplation), or they actually need to spend time figuring out HOW, and gathering the mental, physical, and emotional resources to make the change (Preparation).

If you're considering multiple behavior changes, it's probably because you ARE ready to act. In ONE of the behaviors. Readiness is key, and you find it by becoming aware of what stage you're in.

Stay tuned for more tips on behavior change, and reach out with questions or to schedule a Free Coaching Session if you'd like a coach to help you supercharge your habit creation.

*There are a lot of great minds out there to help us think into behavior change, but James & Janice Prochaska are some of our favorites. Learn More Here.

**This sleep statistic is from the National Sleep Foundation. See Our Source.