First of all you need to decide what it is that you’d like to be different. Remember change doesn’t have to mean stopping doing something, it can also mean starting to do something too.

If there’s lots in your life that you’d like to be different, starting with small steps or with something that you feel could be doable can often be helpful.

Ask yourself
What is it that you’d like to be different?
What would you like to stop doing, start doing or do more of?
You can use the box below to make a note of your plan if you like.

Now you have somewhere to start, it’s worth considering how important this is to you.

Ask yourself.
How important is this to you?

If you had to give it a score between 0 and 7, with 7 being extremely important, what score would you give it?

Once you have a score ask yourself
What helped you to get to this score? How did it become as important as it is?
What might need to happen for it to become more important to you?

If you scored yourself a low score ask yourself
Is now the right time for you to make this change?
Thinking about what might happen if you do and what might happen if you don’t can sometimes help you decide.

We can sometimes score low when we are scared of failing or if we are being pushed into something we aren’t sure we really want to do.
You can use the box below to make a note of your thoughts if you like.

Ask yourself these questions.

How confident are you about doing this?
If you had to give it a score between 0 and 7, with 7 being extremely important, what score would you give it?

Once you have a score ask

What helped you to get to this score? How did you become this confident?
What might help you to grow a little more confidence?

If you scored yourself a low you may also want to ask yourself

If a friend or someone you know was feeling just like you, what would you say to them that might be helpful?

If you were to ask someone you trust and respect for advice, what do you think they would say to you?

Have a think about your life and the experience you have of overcoming difficulties or managing to do things that at first you thought you might never be able to do.

What other life changes have you made, that at first you thought were difficult and then you managed it? How did you do it? Can remembering those situations help you with this challenge?

You can use the box below to make a note of your thoughts if you like.

What are your reasons for wanting to do this? Make a note of as many reasons that you can think of. Notice how you feel when you do. You can use the box below to make a note of your reasons if you like.

If you did decide to do this, how would you go about it? How would you do it? You can use the box below to make a note of your ideas if you like.

What worries you, if anything, about doing this? What might happen if you decide not to do it? You can use the box below to make a note of your worries if you like.

If you did make the change, how would you hope to feel? How could life be different for you? You can use the box below to make a note of your hopes if you like.

Take a moment to remind yourself of your reasons for wanting to do this. Sometimes reading it out loud can help.
Sometimes it helps to have a little time to think about it.

Have a pause and then ask?

What first step are you willing or able to make?
What commitment are you going to make to yourself.

You can write your commitments in the next section if you like.