Are You Ready To Change?

Recovery from a brain injury is a road with many unforeseen twists and turns. You can often feel like you are experiencing so many things new again. One day you feel like you are making progress and the next frustrated by stagnation. Twists and turns. Starts and stops. Happiness and disappointment. But there is hope when you stick with the hard work of improving and celebrate your small successes.

The secret is how you handle each twist and turn. There are times when you feel like you don’t want to work on an area that needs improvement because you are tired, overwhelmed, or feel like you are doing just fine. Other people may tell you that an area needs improvement but you don’t see it the same way. How urgent you see the need to improve drives your commitment to seeking help.

The first step is to ask yourself “To what extent is an area of my behavior, health or life getting in the way of me feeling fulfilled and happy?” This question paints a picture about how urgent you feel the need to change. If you believe that the investment you make in changing will be worth it in the end, then you are ready to discuss with others how to get the help you need.

But it isn’t always that simple. Some people know that something needs to change but hesitate to commit because it appears so overwhelming to do so. They may also hesitate because they don’t think it is as big a problem as other people are telling them. If you are in this situation, you owe it to yourself to have one meeting with one person who can help you improve in that area. You are not committing to anything other than just one meeting to discuss the process of changing something important in your life. Sometimes the solution is not as overwhelming as we once thought. You also obtain a better understanding about the work required to change.

In short, take one small step to learn how you can improve one aspect of your life. Then, decide if you want to tackle the problem or wait. Many people don’t like taking even a small, initial step because they believe that they are being asked to make a bigger commitment, but they are not. You are committing to learning only what it takes to improve before you decide to act.