Barriers to change
Barriers to change are factors that make it difficult to move from an intention to a lasting new behavior.
Definition
Barriers to change may be emotional, cognitive, social, environmental or biological. These include lack of readiness, low agency, unclear goal, too high entry threshold, peer pressure, stress, lack of support and poorly designed environment. Behavior change models show that change is a process, not a one-time decision.
Key ideas
- Intention is not enough
- Readiness to change
- The influence of the environment and support
Practice and life
Choose one change and list the barriers in five columns: emotions, beliefs, environment, people, energy. Remove the easiest barrier first.
Common misconceptions
It is wrong to blame only lack of discipline. A common mistake is designing a change so large that the everyday system has no chance of maintaining it.
> Change rarely stops at lack of will; more often due to lack of conditions.
> — Guru Element
Questions for self-reflection
- What is actually blocking this change?
- At what stage of readiness am I?
- How can I lower the first step threshold?