Motivation Through Set Goals

We’re a few weeks into 2018 now and a lot of you are probably sticking to your resolutions and SMARTER goals, but there may be a few that are struggling to do this for whatever reason. A common reason is usually to do with motivation more than anything else, so here’s a few tips and tricks to help you improve your motivation and stick to your goals.

First of all, you have to understand what type of motivation you are trying to improve, this can, in a broad sense be broken into two categories, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation, in a nutshell is the desire to do something because you deeply want to and enjoy it, with no expectation of an external reward, whilst extrinsic motivation follows the motivation to do something because you are expecting a reward for doing it. Both can be useful tools, but you need to understand why you are doing something before you can improve your motivation towards it [1].

Intrinsic motivation is ideal for behaviour change because it is the highest form of motivation which comes from an internal want to change one’s behaviour, however changing your behaviour isn’t as easy as saying you want to pick up a new habit because you want to, it may have to start by exploiting extrinsic motivation. For example, you have decided for the new year you want to go to the gym more, this could be because you want to enjoy the perks of a physically active lifestyle, not necessarily because you enjoy working out. Those perks such as being more fit, having better stamina, more muscle content and less fat content are all examples of extrinsic rewards and if those are your goals, you might find you need a little push to keep going towards them, as they are not instantaneous.

You can appeal to your extrinsic side by rewarding yourself at different milestones you have set up when you hit them. This is not a permanent solution as you will then learn to expect a physical reward and ultimately, you’ll want to be motivated to keep at the behaviour change without the need for reward, how do we do this?

Self-determination theory [2] suggests that to facilitate intrinsic motivation, one needs 3 main things, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This means that an individual must feel sufficiently autonomous in their actions and that they feel they can act for themselves to facilitate their new behaviour, that one can feel that they are both challenged, but also that the can achieve the goals they have set, and that others around them can understand an individual’s goals.

How is this facilitated? One model (The Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change [3]) suggests that there are numerous ways one can change their behaviour and stay motivated. In this model, there are six ‘stages’ that people are at when trying to change a behaviour, these are Precontemplation, contemplation, Action, relapse and maintenance. What these mean;

Precontemplation – Haven’t even begun thinking about changing behaviour

Contemplation – Thinking about changing a behaviour, not begun the process yet though

Action – begun to change the behaviour or begun a new behaviour

Relapse – When an individual resumes the lack of new behaviour or goes back on what they are trying to change (doesn’t always happen)

Maintenance – Keeping up the new behaviour or change and avoiding relapsing

The ideal scenario is to go through those stages progressively, avoiding relapsing and then be in a state of maintenance once the behaviour has become routine, but how is this done? This model also gives examples of what can be done at each stage to boost each stage, which are called the ‘processes of change’, these are:

Consciousness-raising – Improving knowledge around the area of the intended behaviour change.

Dramatic relief – Feeling emotions which fuel your motivations towards the intended behaviour change.

Self-revaluation – Becoming aware to the fact that the new behaviour is important.

Environmental revaluation – Becoming aware to how the new behaviour could positively impact those around them.

Social liberation – Accept help from those around you are benefits and you are supported.

Self-liberation – Your own belief in your ability to change your behaviour and committing to it.

Helping relationships – Finding support from others who support this behaviour change.

Counter-conditioning – Substitute any unhealthy thoughts or behaviours for healthy ones.

Reinforcement management – Slowly increase rewards for positive behaviours and reduce those from negative behaviours.

Stimulus control – Use reminders to encourage the new behaviour.

These ‘processes of change’ follow suit fairly in line with the different stages of behaviour change and facilitate that change of behaviour as you go through each stage. This in-turn will help keep motivation high and allow you to effectively reach your goals and targets.

[1] - Vallerand, R. J., & Losier, G. F. (1999). An integrative analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in sport. Journal of applied sport psychology, 11(1), 142-169.

[2] - Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American psychologist, 55(1), 68.

[3] - Prochaska, J. O., & Velicer, W. F. (1997). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. American journal of health promotion, 12(1), 38-48.