Stages of Change: Maintenance
After taking action on the things you wish to achieve, the changes you want to see, now your job is to maintain that change.
This is where you really begin to integrate new choices and behaviours into who you are. The effort you once had to exert becomes second nature. The small steps you repeated each day start to form a natural rhythm and elevates you forward.
What Is Maintenance?
Maintenance is about sustaining change and strengthening it so it can withstand challenges, setbacks, or stress.
In this stage, the new pattern has taken root, but the work isn’t over. Old habits can still return, especially during moments of stress, fatigue, or uncertainty. Maintenance means tending to your progress like you would a garden - blooming flowers need watering just as much as seeds.
Consistency
Real change comes with consistency. The key is to keep showing up, even when life gets busy.
Think of someone who decides to get fit and starts going to the gym three times a week. For a while, everything flows nicely. Then a holiday comes up, or work gets hectic, and suddenly that rhythm slips. When they return, it feels harder to get back into it again. That’s normal.
Progress isn’t lost because you missed a few weeks. Going three times a week for a year is great, but going three times some weeks, once another, and not at all sometimes is still progress. You don’t have to beat yourself up. No one is standing over you demanding perfection.
The bigger question is:
Are you doing better than you were before?
If so, you’re winning. You’ve developed a direction. Life will ebb and flow - sometimes other things take priority, and that’s fine. Maintenance is about looking at the bigger picture and continuing to make those choices that keep you aligned over the long term.
Each day you continue to choose the new path, you reinforce the identity you’ve built. You strengthen the muscle of choice, awareness, and calm. You remind yourself that this isn’t just something you’re doing - it’s who you’re becoming.
How to Maintain Change
Here are some ways to keep your progress steady and strong:
Stay aware. Notice early signs of old habits creeping back in. Awareness helps you make adjustments before things slip.
Keep your rituals. Stick with the small routines that helped you change - morning walks, journaling, deep breaths.
Reflect often. Check in with yourself. What feels steady? What could use more attention?
Be flexible. Life changes, and your routines can too. Adapt rather than abandon.
Reach out for support. Accountability keeps you steady, whether through friends, a coach, or hypnotherapy (with me, online or in Brighton).
Practice kindness. There will be good weeks and slower weeks. Progress builds over time, not in straight lines.
Reconnect with your why. Remind yourself what this change gives you - peace, energy, freedom, or balance.
Reflection Questions
What daily habits help keep me grounded and balanced?
How will I recognise the first signs of slipping back?
What support helps me stay consistent when life gets hard?
How can I keep the joy of this change alive?
What am I most proud of about how far I’ve come?
The Garden of Growth
Think of Maintenance like tending a garden. You’ve planted the seeds, watered them, and now they’re growing strong. But even a thriving garden needs attention - sunlight, water, care.
Change works the same way. Tend to it with care. Protect what you’ve grown. Keep choosing, day after day, to nurture what matters most.
Hypnotherapy can help deepen this stage by reinforcing positive habits, calming anxiety, easing stress, and anchoring new patterns in the subconscious mind - making them feel natural and automatic.
Remember, whatever your change goals are, whether you want to know how to quit smoking, or manage anxiety, beat depression or anything else, I’m just a message away.
David Stewart
Evergreen Hypnotherapy 🌱
