It is hard to make people change their behaviors because they get used to them regardless of the risk those behaviors may be exposing. For example, when one talks to a smoker about quitting the habit, it may take them ages before convincing the smoker to change his or her smoking behavior. However, it is possible to change the behaviors of people through careful analysis of their preferences and needs. One of the things one should do in order to change people’s behaviors is to be close and friendly as much as possible. Then by use of examples, one can explain risks associated with the behavior until it touches the person addressed (Lundy and Janes, 2001, p.34). This might take quite some time but eventually, the objective may be realized. Some people engage in unhealthy behaviors without knowing the risks associated with them, therefore, enough education can make them change. When trying to convince one to quit a certain behavior some aspects cannot work. For example, one should not keep on persisting even after they get ignored because the relationship between the two may be affected. Once the friendship ends, then the person will continue their behavior but with no one trying to have them change.
Therefore, in order to change one’s behavior successfully, more listening than talking is essential because the person stuck in the immoral behavior knows exactly how they ended up in the habit. For example, when advising people on losing weight one should try to talk to them to get to details about their eating habits and whether they know how risky those are habits to their lives. The person subjected to help should be given an opportunity to speak out their feelings and suggestions about their habits. Then at a point, the person advising them should intervene with a story pretending to have had similar situations in the past. The person will understand that there is nothing abnormal with their behavior and if they agree with the adviser, they may decide to listen to the adviser so that he can get them out of the habit just as he succeeded in quitting. Then, one will be leading by example, and since one will be there to answer all questions, then the person in unhealthy habits might be interested to change. The greatest fear of people, when changing habits, is losing a valuable thing or exposing themselves to dangerous situations, but when an adviser narrates their experience they might end up encouraged (Hales, 2007, p.66). Behavior can be changed by following the pleasure principle whereby one finds, what the person stuck in unhealthy behavior, finds pleasant. Then they join them hence reducing their time for the unhealthy habits and by doing this one’s behavior can be effectively changed. It is pleasant to have decent health, therefore, one should try to avoid some short-term pleasant moments so to speak that may cause pain in the future.
Motivation has several definitions, and one of those is the psychological feature that causes arousal in an organism to action towards a goal desired the reason behind the action, which gives purpose, and the condition of motivation. People can be motivated to lose weight and appreciate this process at the same time. They have to be shown the importance of proper feeding habits and at the same time, the negative aspects caused by a heavyweight. One must set up a goal to be motivated and by doing this one must understand why they want to lose weight. This will guide them through the actions they partake in everyday life aimed at weight loss. When one has a reason to lose weight they have to be careful because what they want to achieve must be achieved regardless of the challenges associated with the task. Some people get motivated towards pleasure while others get motivated away from pain; therefore, one should find out which one is more compelling when it comes to weight loss and adapt to it to be motivated. Then one should analyze them to understand what they want to look like after losing weight. They should have a picture of their life after losing weight and see if their life will be better, and by doing this, they will be able to work through the process of losing weight. For efficient motivation, one may figure out how they might look like in case they fail to lose weight. They have to know what they might lose in the process of losing weight in the scenario where they do not lose weight as desired. This helps one to make concrete decisions pertaining to losing weight and they target the set goal hence gaining natural motivation towards the process. Adjusting eating habits may also boost one’s motivation towards losing weight (Hales, 2007, p.76). Once they see that calories reduce being diagnosed after some time they get motivated.
Therefore, it is less people need to adapter behaviors that do not pose a danger to their future days. When one gets determined to help those stuck in unhealthy behaviors, they should make sure they follow the procedure to avoid breaking their relationship. They should listen more than they talk. However, losing weight is essential as it leads to quality health. People should lay down a proper motivation plan to lose weight without much hustle.
References
Hales, D. (2007). An Invitation to Health, Brief. London: Cengage learning.
Lundy, S. K. & Janes, S. (2001). Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public’s Health. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning.