Table 1. The stages of change.
Stage Name Description
1 Pre-contemplation People who aren’t currently thinking of changing their behavior. In short: I WON’T and I CAN’T stage.
2 Contemplation People who aren’t currently changing their behavior, but do intent to change in the next six months. In short: I MIGHT stage.
3 Preparation People who are preparing to change their behavior within the next 30 days. In short: I WILL stage.
4 Action People who made a change in their behavior, but have changed recently (up to six months but no longer). In short: I AM stage.
5 Maintenance People who have changed for some time, at least six months. The behavior has become a reasonably stable characteristic. In short: I HAVE stage.
6 Relapse On the one hand, people can maintain their behavior, on the other hand, they can relapse into the previous behavior and return to earlier stages.