Making Changes
Research backed strategies for successfully changing behavior.
Setting Goals That Stick
Goal Setting
Now that you’ve learned a lot of things about how to adapt sexual activities, you might have a goal in mind to start trying something new.
It can be hard sometimes to make and stick with changes in behavior.
- Sometimes we have an idea about what we might do, but we never get around to doing it
- Just as with a new year’s resolution, sometimes we set a goal and do it for a couple of days or weeks and then stop
Research on health-related behaviors shows that we are often more successful with making changes when we make a clear and specific plan.
Making an Action Plan
Getting Started
The following is an action plan, designed to help you make changes:
- Completing this plan can help you stick to your changes.
- Notice you need to be specific about the who, what, where, when why etc
- Make a note in your calendar to follow-up in 2 weeks and see if you’ve been doing the new behavior
- Make adjustments to your plan as needed
Video on Using an Action Plan
Action Plan Template
Action Plan Example
Choosing a Treatment
Tools for Choosing Your Action Item
If you aren’t sure yet what your plan or change should be, you might want to spend some time first choosing your action item.
The following handouts help you weigh out the different approaches and make a choice about which ones you might want to try
- Pleasure-Based (non-penetrative) sexual activities
- Erection-Based strategies
- Vaginal Health Strategies
If you have a partner, your partner might like to complete this activity as well, and then you can discuss your answers.