How often have you heard people say ‘I’m just not motivated’? This can apply to any area of their life. Let’s be honest – change is hard. For most of us, our habits are pretty deeply ingrained. With regard to health specifically, it may be years before an unhealthy habit such as lack of exercise ‘catches up with us’. You would probably agree that adopting a healthy nutrition and exercise program at 10 or 20 is much easier than initiating the change at 40-50-60!

Motivation: reason for doing something. This can be an external or internal reason, or what we call extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. An external motivator such as a reward or incentive may prompt change initially, but typically it needs to become an intrinsic or internal motivator that moves you toward long-term lifestyle behavior change.

Balanced Wellness believes that our goals, values and purpose (some define this as Spirituality), can become the intrinsic motivator for our behaviors. Organizations or individuals typically begin with a vision – what their business or life will look like as they achieve their goals. A vision also provides a guide to create and implement actions. The vision also incorporates the purpose – or why the change is necessary – and the values held by the individual or organization. When behavior change becomes difficult, focusing back on the vision will help motivate the individual to persevere – until they have the intrinsic motivation to keep pushing forward despite obstacles, difficulties, and other challenges. Our wellness coaches use motivational interviewing and other evidence-based theories to guide participants toward behavior change through creating visions, strategies, and action steps.