AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO THE READER
This book is meant for you if you feel a need and have a desire to make some significant changes in your present lifestyle. The program set out in these pages – the Phoenix Self-Help Life Plan – will provide you with a well thought out structure which – if followed through – will get you from where you are now to where you want to be.
If you are not quite sure where you want to be, the Lifestyle Evaluation Questionnaire, which is the first step of the Phoenix Plan, will assist you in determining what will become your priority goals for personal change.
The book does not tell you what changes to make in your life. It may offer suggestions and highlight areas for change that are generally considered important for personal growth, but fundamentally YOU decide how, why and when you want to work to implement your selected lifestyle changes.
The title of the book invites you to work to change your life in ten weeks. This proposed duration should be regarded as a guide only and may be modified to suit your personal circumstances. However, I do believe it does take several weeks before a person’s change of behaviours and/or routines become established habits in their lifestyle. I know that there are many programs advertised which suggest that you can make big permanent life changes in a week or less, but I am somewhat sceptical of the likelihood of this being possible for most individuals.
I think it is very important that you spend an adequate period of time (at least one week) identifying your chosen goals, breaking these down into appropriate weekly targets and making any necessary domestic and work arrangements so that you have time and opportunity to work on these targets. In later pages, the book gives detailed assistance on how to do this.
In preparing to work on the Phoenix Plan, it is suggested that you equip yourself with a good sized notebook where you can keep a personal record of your progress as you proceed with the Plan. Documentation is important so that you can monitor your thoughts and see your general progress towards your goals. The documentation provided within the book may prove helpful in this regard, but dispense with it or modify it if you can work out a system of recording your own progress which is better for you.
This book is best described as a workbook to help you transform your lifestyle to how you want it to be. For this reason, it is not a book to be simply read through once and placed aside. Rather, it represents a step-by-step approach to making significant life changes which require careful thought and planning. As such, it is best to work at a pace comfortable for you and not to attempt too many life changes at the same time (more on this later).
As a general rule, I would recommend that you read through or scan the book completely once to get an overall idea of how it is set out and what it will require of you: but do not scrutinise the Lifestyle Evaluation Questionnaire on this first reading. Then go back and start the program as set out, selecting and planning your priority goals and targets. When this is completed, allow yourself an extended timeframe (at least four weeks) to work on achieving your selected goals. The book section which follows, How To Use This Book, gives further helpful information on this approach.
You will see from the above that the Plan contained in this book requires a lot from you in terms of thought, planning and action. Make sure you are prepared and able to make this commitment before you begin. If you can’t or won’t commit in this way, defer starting the program until a more opportune time.
Sometimes, readers are fearful about failing to achieve the goals they select for themselves. Do not worry about this – the likelihood is that you will falter somewhat along the way. Most people do. The strength of your commitment and endeavour is judged more accurately on your capacity to pick yourself up again and to regroup your efforts. An expression I have used elsewhere that “..two steps forward and one step backwards marks real progress..” is truly relevant here.
Some of the points I have made here will be repeated in later sections of this book. This is because of their importance to your overall progress and to help you get, in the near future, to where you want to be !
Good luck in working through the program.