If on-going daily decision making in favor of self-care is the goal, we must reconsider which goals and purpose for behavior are actually the most motivating. Will power is vulnerable to fatigue, but the pursuit of daily well-being offers immediate, fulfilling rewards. - Michelle Segar, PhD
Dr Segar is a motivational scientist who researches at the University of Michigan. She worries that we are giving ourselves "The Wrong Whys" for healthy habits. She suspects our self-talk may go something like this (for instance, about exercise), "If I exercise today, SOMEDAY it will benefit me." And then everything else in our lives begins to compete with that self-talk, and the other things, which are more immediate, will crowd our plan out. She suggests abandoning the self-talk that centers on our future. (
) Instead, she suggests better "Whys" that speak to us about TODAY, such as "If I exercise today I can expect ... ..." (followed by our own list of favorite known benefits for the day).
Here's her list. She expects:
"... ..Feeling good,
Being happy,
Having joy,
Having more energy,
Getting more sleep."
And she has similar personal benefits she expects for days of healthy eating, and days of replacing bad habits with good, etc.
She says we need to hook ourselves
with the outcomes that are going to actually motivate us TODAY. If we only talk to ourselves about long-term goals, we will lose our momentum and interest because they must compete with everything else that's going on. But if we're reminding ourselves about the GIFT of benefits today, and notice that they happen, we'll remember that tomorrow, too, and a habit is born.
