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The trouble with the Future is that it is not what it used to be. Jean Paul Valery

AAs we have written about wellness mentors being available to support people in wellness behaviors and to help create a campus culture that supports wellness, we have not been clear about the idea that all this is based on people trying to change a behavior. For many people change is not easy, and they may need people around them that set the environment to make the change a little easier - thus the role of mentors.

Sometimes the decision to attempt a behavior change is prompted by some "change" that has already happened - weight gain, health problem, energy decrease, etc. In this case, people may not feel that they have a choice or they don't know exactly what to do; this provides another role for mentors. As Don Taylor wrote in his column ("Minding Your Own Business," Amarillo News-Globe, March 18, 2001, page B1), "In life there are three decisions to make:

1. ignore change,
2. anticipate change and react quickly, or
3. be the one who makes change happen."

How do we apply these ideas to wellness behavior change and wellness mentoring? Many of us view change as stressful, but research suggests that lack of control concerning change is what leads to the greatest distress. Being proactive - making change happen - gives us that sense of control and may lead to the perception that change is challenging and stimulating. If we decide that we want to be the one in charge of making changes in our lives, then a first step is to decide what and how we want to change, and maybe why. After that, one way to "draw a map" to help us achieve the desired change is to imagine ourselves in the future after the change has already taken place. Looking backward from this point can help us figure out "how we got there." Then we can devise a plan - a path to get there and ways to overcome barriers. Wellness mentors can assist with this task; they can also help us anticipate change and react quickly.