How to Do a Daily Behavior Review

Before we begin to make changes in ourselves, we first have to know what the problem actually is. One of the best ways to assess the problem is to do a daily behavior review. The review can be done on a specific area of your life, or on a broad scale. We will look at a general framework which you can tweak to fit your needs.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3-Ring binder
• computer and printer (or access to one)
• pen
• small notebook you can carry with you (optional)
• 3-hole punch (optional)

1. Identify some areas in your life that you want to change. If you are just interested in becoming happier in general, skip this step.

2. Make a list of negative habits that you have that you want to start working for. Your daily behavior review will focus on these things.

3. Studies suggest that it is best to work on one thing at a time, so pick the one area that you would like to focus on.

4. Come up with a set of 10 questions regarding this behavior. Examples include: "How many cigarettes did I smoke today?" (quitting smoking) or "Have I been kind and loving toward everyone I encountered today? If not, what did I do that was not kind and loving?"

5. In your favorite word processing program, create a document including these questions. Make a line at the top for you to write in the date. Put one question on each line, and leave plenty of space in between each question for your to write your answers.

6. Print out about twenty of these sheets to start, punch holes in them and put them in an empty three-ring binder.

7. If you are trying to achieve a specific goal such as quit smoking or lose weight, keep a small notebook with you to keep track of things as they happen. Write down every cigarette you smoke and include where you were and how you were feeling, or if dieting do the same thing with everything you eat. If you're just trying to improve your general well-being, you may skip this step or use it to write down events during the day.

8. Every night, answer the questions you wrote in your notebook. After a couple of weeks doing this, you finally have enough information about yourself to start changing. Good luck!

Tips & Warnings

• Be patient with yourself. If you forget, start again as soon as you remember.
• Once you've done this for awhile, create a plan to change. There are many great self-help books out there, or you can try talking to a counselor or joining a support group.
• Don't use your review as an excuse to beat yourself up. Everyone makes mistakes, and the point of this is not to make you feel bad about yourself, but help you know what you are doing and get some insight into why. Uncovering these things will allow you to come up with ways to change.
• Don't give up if you get off-track! Just start back as soon as you remember.

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[Soulsearcher83]

on 7/21/2008 Definately a good idea. Thanks for printing this.