The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook
66UÊAre you able to put aside, at least to some extent, other major problems and 
stresses in your life (things such as family problems or work stresses) so that 
you can focus on learning to manage your social and performance anxiety?
UÊAre you able to set aside several blocks of time several days per week to 
practice the techniques described in this book?
Hopefully, after carefully considering these questions, you will make a commitment 
to work on overcoming your social anxiety. However, you may also decide that this 
is not the best time for you to work on the problem and that you would rather wait 
until your life situation changes. If that is the case, you may still ﬁnd reading this book 
helpful because it contains strategies that can be used from time to time, as you need 
them. However, making big changes will require using the techniques described in this 
book frequently and consistently. The next section will help you further as you decide 
whether to work on your anxiety at this time.
MOTIVATION AND READINESS FOR CHANGE
Experts have identiﬁed ﬁve stages that people go through as they contemplate making 
a change in behavior, such as quitting smoking, losing weight, or improving their work 
habits (Prochaska, DiClemente, and Norcross 1992). The model describing these stages of 
change  is often referred to as the transtheoretical model of change. These ﬁve stages include:
1. Precontemplation . At this stage, people are unaware that they have a problem 
or they have no intention of changing, either because they are unwilling to 
change or they are convinced that change is impossible. An example would