Behavior Change Model

The behavior change I chose to implement for fourteen days was daily exercise. In high school, I was very good at running for long periods of time. I could run 2 miles in under 16 minutes and not have to take walking breaks during my running period. Most importantly, I used to work out everyday and tried to better myself. I got a concussion from cheerleading at the of 2015 and I took a break from sports and running because of my injury. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to run like I could before my injury and this mental skills integration allowed me to challenge myself physically. The mental skills I practiced during the two weeks are self-regulation, self-confidence, goal-setting, and intrinsic motivation. I used all four mental skills …show more content…
The model states that change happens in a cyclical pattern rather than a linear pattern. The stages of change model applies to my behavior change because I experienced many of the stages when trying to have daily exercise become a routine. The six stages of this model are: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. I noticed all the stages were present throughout the two weeks. The precontemplation stage was me throughout the semester when I only wanted to exercise three times a week instead of exercising daily. The contemplation stage was before I began the behavior change and the first day of the behavior change. The preparation stage was the first few days when I was walking and gradually increasing the distance and the speed of my workout. The action stage was after the first week when I exercised daily for a week. The maintenance stage occurred because it felt weird when I didn’t work out or worked out less than what I wanted to. The termination stage hasn’t occurred because I haven’t maintained the routine for a sufficient amount of …show more content…
The theory is composed of three basic psychological needs: need for autonomy, need for competence, and need for relatedness. The theory is the most applicable to how I integrated my behavior change because it relates to my motivation and individual performance. The need for relatedness didn’t apply to my specific behavior change because I exercised individually and not in a group setting. However, the need for autonomy and need for competence were relevant during the two weeks because I was intrinsically motivated to exercise. Autonomy applied to my decision of how intense to work out each day because I was sick for most of the integration period. The sense of autonomy allowed me to walk the days I felt sick and run intensely the last few days that I felt healthy. My need for competence mostly applied to the final days of the behavior change because I wanted to be motivated to work out and I wanted the outcome to be surpassing the goals I