Now What?
Goal
Recognize my own current level of motivation and what I see as the benefits and drawbacks to making necessary changes.
In Lesson 1, we went through a brief overview of what Type II Diabetesis. From this lesson on, let’s focus on how we can stay in control of diabetes, rather than letting the diabetes be in control of us.
As we talked about in the first lesson, it takes a lot of steps to change. It’s important to admit that we don’t always want to change, so this lesson we will look at how we feel about changing right at this moment. If you think you don’t have the motivation or resources, keep in mind that you made the decision to look at this self-help guide, which is a great start! At 7cups, you have a built-in support network, with people who are working on their own growth paths and who want to see you succeed on yours, as well.
Right now, it might not seem like you have a lot of control. This is a normal feeling after someone learns they have Type II Diabetes. The truth, though, is that you have a choice to make. You can choose to take steps to manage your diabetes or you can decide not to make any changes. That is a choice that YOU have control over, and only you can make the decision.
Sometimes, it can also be helpful to look at the pros and cons of changing our behavior and the pros and cons of not changing. Make a list on paper of three positive parts to changing, three negative parts to changing, and then do the same for not changing.
Daniel’s Story
Danielis trying to decide what to do now that he has been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. He knows he could change, but he has some major hesitations about it, too. He makes his pros and cons list:
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| Changing my behaviors to manage diabetes |
|
|
| Not changing my behaviors to manage diabetes |
|
|
After reflecting on his pros and cons list, Daniel decides that changing his behaviors really will be best in the long term and decides to continue to learn more about managing diabetes. He rates his current motivation to change at a 7.
Your Turn:
Now, grab a piece of paper to write on or share on the Diabetes Forum: On a scale of 1 (Not at all) to 10 (A lot, ready to make a plan and stick to it) how much do you want to change?
