Understanding motivation is the key to change

According to one statistic, 45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions and 66% of those people give up before the end of January.   I’ll bet if you asked them, they would say they just aren’t motivated anymore.  

Understanding motivation is the key to sticking with any kind of change.  There are actually three types of motivation:  emotional, practical and intellectual.  

Emotional motivation is what most people think of when they think of changing.  It’s “feeling like” doing it, either because you’re excited about the change or because you’ve been frightened into it.  For example, someone decides to take up knitting.  They get excited thinking about all of the things they’ll make for friends and family.  They buy all the supplies and start.  Once they realize they won’t be an expert right off the bat, excitement wears off and they quit.  Or, say a person’s doctor tells them they are borderline diabetic.  They get scared.  They make drastic lifestyle and dietary changes right away, but once the fear wears off, they gradually return to their old bad habits. 

Practical motivation is what someone is “making” you do or you feel you “have to” do.  Your boss says you need a degree to get a promotion, or to put the car in the garage, you need to clean it out.  They are the real-world motivators to change.

Intellectual motivations are things we know in our mind are good for us.  Nearly everyone knows that getting more exercise, eating healthier or quitting cigarettes are all good ideas.  

Change is easiest when all three motivators line up.  When I’m excited about changing, I have practical reasons to and I know the change is a good idea, change seems effortless.  This doesn’t happen often and when it does, it only lasts for a short time.  This is because emotional motivation can only be sustained for so long and then it fades, just like any other emotion.  And practical motivators may seem less important over time, while intellectual motivators are the weakest of all.  

That doesn’t mean change is impossible, only that you need to have a plan for how to maintain a change when the motivations are weak.  Having a plan is the best way to improve your chances of sticking to a New Year’s resolution.  

Next month:  how to make a plan.

If you are struggling to make a change that is important to you, give us a call, we can help.

Diana Charlton MS, NCC, LPC
Creative Living Center
412-828-9458