Big pharma would be licking its chops

Get clear. Then get going.

 The billion-dollar problem when it comes to exercise is not -

‘What shoes make me run fastest?’ or ‘What’s the best exercise for weight loss?’ or ‘Is HIIT better than low intensity?’

No.

The biggest problem is simply…

How do you get motivated?

And for health coaches like me… how do I motivate someone to make the changes they so badly want to make – and help them sustain this motivation over time?

Because without the motivation, having all the information & gear in the world is pointless.

I.e.: Without a ‘Why’, the ‘How’ and ‘What’ are useless.

And if big pharma had the answer to this question, it would be a billion-dollar business. They’d be licking their chops at the thought of this wonder drug!

But motivation doesn’t come in a pill.

It doesn’t come in a can. Or a sachet. Or a needle.

It comes in a quiet conversation.

I wonder - what do you think of when I say ‘motivational interviewing’?

You might picture a man jumping around on stage with a headset and a Colgate smile and loud blaring music. And clapping. Lots of clapping.

But that kind of motivation doesn’t work for most people. Especially women. Or if it does it’s short lived.

Because what motivates you from the INSIDE is different.

Imagine a glowing ember on a fireplace. What would you do to bring it to flame?

Would you smother it with hype and unsolicited advice?

Or would you gently give it oxygen, space and then the right fuel at the right time?

This is how motivational interviewing works.

Rather than pushing motivation INTO someone, you draw it OUT of them.

Because it’s already in there, it just needs to be reignited!!

There are hundreds – thousands - of studies supporting the effectiveness of motivational interviewing for behaviour changes like exercising, quitting smoking, losing weight, even helping drug and alcohol addiction.

And in my coaching & research work I’ve seen first-hand, over and over again, how powerful and life changing one quiet conversation can be.

Just a few days ago I had a follow up call with a woman west of Sydney who had gone from 100% couch potato, barely leaving the house, struggling to work up the energy to tidy the living room…

To now doing two 10-minute walks a day around her property, cleaning her house daily while listening to music, and getting back into volunteering in her local community.

All off the back of a single conversation I had with her one month ago – in which she voiced out loud her own reasons, desires, and need for change.

Hers. Not mine.

Because the secret ingredient to why motivational interviewing works is a thing called ‘change talk’. This is when a person says out loud why they want to change.

Change talk is the key predictor of whether someone is actually going to change.

(Try patent that, big pharma!!)

So the key takeaway here is – if you want to get motivated, you don’t need more information or more gear.

Despite what the marketers and influencers will tell you.

You just need a strong enough ‘why’.

That comes from within.