"Change Management"

Change management is a hot button topic because most everybody feels they need it. And, truth be told, you do. We all do. Even when your life is sailing smoothly and you’re experiencing success with your good habits, you’ll still occasionally relapse. This article will teach you how to avoid having your setbacks become failures and how to make your changes permanent ones. "Dr. Kuhn," she said, "I've been looking forward to talking with you."

I was attending an early Kentucky Derby event and the hostess was someone I've known for a few years. "I've been having problems with taking myself way too seriously the past couple weeks," she elaborated.

"You have my book, The Fun Factor, right," I asked her.

"Yes," came her reply.

I continued, "And you've applied my HA HA HA Prescription to all areas of your life, right? Just as I prescribe?"

"Yes, and I've had great success with it," she beamed. "My husband and I are rarely fighting anymore and my work is going great! It's just been these last two weeks...I find myself feeling and acting so stressed out. I don't know what to do."

"Have you been in charge of organizing this event?" I asked.

"Yes," came her reply.

"Then I think I know exactly why you've been experiencing those problems," I told her. "There’s something you need to know about change management and it’s good news..."

Experiencing frustration when you relapse against positive changes you've made is very common. You have undoubtedly made some profound changes in your life based on my Fun Factor prescription and change management is something you want to perform successfully. You have told me about how The Fun Factor has helped you with weight loss, family reconciliation, returning to your job, stopping smoking, being a parent, and many other wonderful accomplishments.

You Need Assistance with Change Management

Yet, for all the positive changes your focus on fun and humor bring, you still occasionally get bitten by the seriousness bug. And it screws up your life a little bit! Change management is something you’d like to be doing better with.

To that end, I have some very interesting information about change management to share with you this week. The following five stages of change were developed by a change management expert from the University of Rhode Island, psychology professor James Prochaska. These five stages have become very influential change management agents because they've helped many, many people progress towards a life without harmful, destructive habits.

I trust they will be helpful to you also. Of course, I want you to read through them with an eye toward gauging how far you've progressed in jettisoning seriousness and incorporating fun, but they work just as well to measure any positive change you want to make. I've also included typical statements you might hear yourself making when you are in each stage, to further assist you in identifying your current status and helping you with your change management.

Dr. James Prochaska's Five Stages of Change Management (As Applied to Your Seriousness)

1. Stage One: Precontemplation
   In this stage, you're thinking you'll never change. You're still in denial about your seriousness. Typical statements from this stage include "It's not really that bad," or "I can change anytime I want, I just don't want to right now."
2. Stage Two: Contemplation
   In this stage you are aware of your seriousness and you're going to replace it with fun someday. You're full of good intentions. A typical statement from this stage would be, "I know I need to take myself less seriously and I plan on doing it."
3. Stage Three: Preparation
   In this stage you are making definite plans to stop taking yourself so seriously. As an aside, don't stop here! Research indicates that over 85% of people needing to make health-related changes never even make it to Step Three. Typical statements from this stage are, "This is the year that I'm going to stop being so serious," or "Starting next month I'm going to start taking myself less seriously."
4. Stage Four: Action
   In Stage Four you are actually using fun to guide and motivate you rather than seriousness and fear. As an aside, make sure you dive right in to The Fun Factor! Feeling quick, positive differences in your life makes it much easier to graduate to the final stage. You're not far from working just to try to change to actual change management. Typical statements from someone in Stage Four include "I'm actually doing this," and "I feel really good about using fun - it's making a difference!"
5. Stage Five. Maintenance
   In this stage you've achieved the opportunity to use fun forever because you've created new mental pathways in your brain, retraining it. But be aware that the old mental pathways of seriousness you've abandoned do not disappear! It is easy to fall back on old, bad habits of seriousness when you're stressed - we call this a relapse. So in this stage, change management is all about getting back on the horse when you fall off. A typical statement from this stage is "Fun is part of my life now and I really feel lousy when I get serious."

• If you identify yourself in Stages One, Two, or Three in regard to replacing your seriousness with fun, keep reading The Fun Times and my website articles until you're ready for Stage Four.
• If you identify yourself in Stage Four, make sure you have my Fun Factor prescription and are applying it in all areas of your life. Feeling the incredible difference fun makes is vital to reaching Stage Five.
• If you identify yourself in Stage Five, continue to use The Fun Factor and do not beat yourself up for your occasional relapse into seriousness. As you now know, your setbacks are not defeats - they are merely reminders that we need to keep our focus on fun today.

Realizing this, she made a point to redouble her efforts to use fun to motivate and guide her. And you can do this too; don't get down on yourself if you fall "off the wagon" because all you're doing is reverting to old habits in times of stress. Just remember why you made your change, get back on your horse, and pick right back up with your new, healthy habit!

But what if you were told to change or die? If you had a heart attack, for example, would you be able to change your dietary and exercise habits? Before you answer, you should know that over 90% of all bypass patients are right back to their bad habits within a year of surgery. In this article, however, I will tell you about some amazing research that reveals how to make your lifesaving changes lasting ones.

Even if you're not facing heart disease, you already know how strongly I feel about a deadly problem you share with all other human beings. Seriousness. Seriousness is all about taking yourself too seriously and it is the foundation from which all your stress is created.

Stress, of course, is the modern plague. Stress is the root cause of almost every major ailment and malady from which you suffer. Stress is the reason behind 80% of your doctor visits. Stress is the reason why your increase in age seems synonymous with lower energy, poorer health, and less resilience.

You Need to Change (Whether You Know It or Not)

In short, it is not hyperbole when I tell you that you are in a position to change or die. Although your seriousness might not present a threat as dramatic as a blocked blood vessel, it is just as dangerous. In fact it is more dangerous because your seriousness flies insidiously under your radar, sinceit is taught and condoned by the vast majority of our society.

But you are fortunate to have a resource for combating seriousness right in front of you. The whole reason for my Fun Times newsletter's existence is based upon some amazing research from the last decade. I'll tell you about that research and explain how to use The Fun Times to make your commitment to fun a lasting one.

How to Change Yourself in Any Way You Desire

Dr. Dean Ornish, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and the founder of the Preventative Medicine Research Institute, made a discovery in 1993 that has had lasting impact on the way we treat people with life- threatening diseases. Dr. Ornish worked with 333 patients with severely clogged arteries, having them follow a treatment regimen centered on a vegetarian diet. The changes Dr. Ornish introduced to his patients were capable of reversing their heart disease, but only if the patients focused on change management enought to make their changes permanent.

The changes implemented by Dr. Ornish were exactly the type of lifestyle changes that 90% of all bypass patients have discarded within a year. Yet Dr. Ornish's patient enjoyed wonderful change management; a whopping 77% of them were still enjoying their new, healthy (and heart disease-free) lifestyle after three years!

What is the secret Dr. Ornish found? He discovered the necessity to go beyond the facts; he discovered that health information is vital, but not sufficient to support permanent change. That's why Dr. Ornish had his patients attend twice weekly support sessions led by a psychologist and receive instruction on meditation, relaxation, yoga, and exercise. With this type of emotional support to reinforce the clinical health information, Dr. Ornish's patients achieved a phenomenally high rate of success with change management.

Your Ready-Made, FREE Support System

Thus I reveal the true purpose of The Fun Times. I trust you've already availed yourself of my Fun Factor prescription. With The Fun Times, you get a psychiatrist leading your weekly support group and receive instruction on how to incorporate fun into almost every imaginable activity. With The Fun Times as your emotional support, you will be a part of that 77% who make lasting, life-changing improvements in their lifestyle. You will remain free from the grips of seriousness and the accompanying stress for good.

Of course, you need to do your part and read Fun Times newsletter's each week. Let the emotionally compelling content remind you of your commitment to fun and your rejection of your seriousness which stunts your energy, health, vitality, and creativityand prevents your successful change management. Let The Fun Times teach you about new evidence of the need for fun and about new applications for fun in every area of your life.

In short, you'll be receiving a first-rate support group in your email inbox each week – for free! And your change management becomes a much simpler, and more effective, endeavor. Getting back on your horse, after an inevitable relapse of seriousness, is so much easier when you have The Fun Times arriving each week to remind you of your commitment to fun.

Important Stuff That You Ought To Know All information on this site is copyrighted by Clifford Kuhn, M.D. and Laugh Doctor Enterprises. Nothing here may be used or reprinted without permission of Dr. Kuhn or Natural-Humor-Medicine.com. Natural-Humor-Medicine.com is an organization dedicated to teaching people about the natural medicine of humor. All revenues generated by this site are reinvested in growing the reach of the organization and educating the public about this powerful medicine.