The Healthwise Life blog
I think we can all agree that change can be difficult and sticking to our intentions can sometimes be challenging. One of the most powerful driving forces that can not only motivate us and keep us pushing forward, but can also be a shield against hard times, ensuring we stay on track towards our goals, is having a strong WHY.
It is essential to have clear and defined goals so we know the direction we are moving towards and what is required to get there. But the key to create the drive and reasons behind achieving and reaching these goals is to have personalised and meaningful WHY linked to reaching them.
Times can get hard when we are getting up for a 6am training session, or when it’s been a long week and we really don’t feel like going to the gym after work, or the weekend rolls around and the last thing we feel like doing is a meal prep when we would much rather order a pizza. Or my old favourite, bulk pasta with extra cheese. In times of temptation, when we know the actions and choice in front of us are not aligned with our goals, there is a moment of hesitation, it’s in these moments that our WHY can remind us what we are doing this for and give us the strength that is sometimes required to say no to those temptations that pull off track and leave us stuck.
If you are struggling to take action, whether it is around exercise and nutrition or all the other lifestyle habits and routines, then identifying or revisiting the WHY you have attached to your goals can be a powerful motivator in getting us to take those first steps towards change, or in allowing us to refocus, helping to keep us on track when times get difficult.
I encourage everyone to think about their goals and what they mean to them. Write them down, and write down WHY this is important to you and how it makes you feel. Not so I can read it or anyone else can read it, but so you can read them. When you commit to writing goals down, it forces us to really think about our answers. You may not get it perfectly clear the first time and that’s alright, this maybe an exercise to revisit from time to time to get clear on your WHY.
When doing this exercise, you want to ask yourself several times WHY, each time getting more specific to your own reasons for your goals.
Let’s start…. as in write now (get it). Write down your goals. Ask yourself, WHY do you want to achieve this? When you have that answer, ask yourself WHY is that important to me? When you write that answer… ask it again, WHY is that important to me? What does it mean to me? Ask it as many times as you need to in order to get specific. Include the feelings that go along with achieving your goal. How will you feel achieving the goal? How will you feel if you don’t achieve the goal?
A strong enough WHY can be a powerful motivator, not only in helping you take those first steps, but also at keeping us charged up and moving forward towards our goals.
Once you have these written down it is important to have them visible, as this helps to be a reminder and keep you on track, set them as wallpaper on your screen or written down next to your desk, stick them to your bathroom mirror or next to your bed. Just make them visible
If you are a Healthwise Global client and would like more help understanding your WHY and achieving your health and wellbeing goals, please email us on challenges@healthwiseglobal.com
