We rarely change our behaviors based on doctor’s orders, because fear-based health recommendations don’t work long-term. Here’s how to shift the focus to joy and create sustainable, healthy habits.
Chances are, you or someone you know has struggled to implement lifestyle changes recommended by a doctor or health expert. In fact, doctor’s orders rarely work for changing behaviors long-term.
It’s not until we shift our focus from external motivators to intrinsic ones that we can build healthy habits. Here’s how to tap into your “why” and finally make healthy changes for good.
Why don’t we do what we know we’re supposed to do?
Our reasons for resisting change can be complicated. One reason many of us fail to make changes even though we know they will be beneficial is we don’t tap into the right motivators.
For example, it’s well understood that unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and chronic stress can shorten our lives. Knowing that a habit (or lack thereof) might kill us in the future certainly induces fear. Unfortunately, fear is not a great motivator.
Link the habit to what feels good now.
Dr. Dean Ornish discussed patient noncompliance several decades ago. As a cardiologist, he wondered why patients weren’t compliant with statin use. After working with patients, he concluded that “while fear of dying may not be a sustainable motivator, joy of living often is.” (p. 1289).[1] When his patients experienced short-term benefits that reinforced the reasons they made the changes in the first place, they were more likely to stick with them.
Thus, it’s helpful to focus on the immediate benefits of healthy habits. Our motivation must stem from doing things that feel good now, not an attempt to prevent something bad from happening in the future. Linking new, healthy habits to immediate, positive feelings is key.
Link the habit to what’s important.
Many of us attempt to develop healthier habits because we know it’s good for long-term health. While that’s important, it’s not sufficient enough to drive behavioral change.
We need to consider why long-term health is important to us individually. When we consider what’s most important to us (like traveling, setting an example for our children, being able to play with grandkids, or maintaining mobility and freedom) we link our habits to our values.
Values are core to motivation. “One’s values, when clearly articulated and kept in view, are what keep them going in the face of big and small challenges.”[2] In other words, when we are aware of how changing our behaviors supports our values, our motivation increases.
Five Questions To Keep You Motivated
How can you use this information to help you build a healthier habit? Here are five questions to get you started:
- What is your desired healthy habit?
- What are the immediate benefits of your desired healthy habit? (How does it make you feel good now?)
- What are the long-term benefits of your desired healthy habit?
- How does this habit reinforce or support the things you most value in life?
- How would this healthier habit improve your life in 5-years?
When you answer these questions you tie healthy habit change to the things that are important to you and that give you immediate rewards. This taps into what’s known as intrinsic motivation, or our internal reasons for change. Intrinsic motivation always trumps extrinsic motivation, or external reasons for change.
Shifting our focus to those behaviors that make us feel good now, reinforce our values, and improve our lives makes it much easier to build healthy habits. Suddenly it doesn’t feel as hard. We’re not doing it because someone else gave us advice or we fear long-term outcomes. We start doing the healthy behaviors because we want to. We choose joy over fear.
Small Changes, Big Transformation
This is one small change we can make to prioritize our health and build resilience. Wellness doesn’t have to feel so overwhelming. Give this practice a try this week and let me know how it goes!
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[1] https://www.ornish.com/wp-content/uploads/Statins-and-the-Soul-of-Medicine.pdf
[2] Moore, M., Jackson, E., Tschannen-Moran, B. (2015). Coaching Psychology Manual. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer
