Knowing your “why” is critical to making changes

I have struggled to adopt a formal mindfulness practice on and off for years. When I took a mindfulness course, even receiving the education and strategies from an expert coach in mindfulness couldn’t get me to change. Why? We often think education can change our beliefs or a lightbulb will come on and we will magically undertake the thing that we have been wanting to do.

The truth is, motivation can only take you so far. That sparkly newness wears off and when it gets monotonous and difficult (because change is HARD), this is where you need to lean into why you started this thing in the first place. It’s important to spend some time in the beginning of goal setting to establish this foundation, because I promise you will come back to it when motivation wanes.

Try these prompts to reflect on your why:

What matters to you in life?

What do you want your health for?

What brings you joy?

What is your vision of yourself in your greatest health? What are you able to do? What does achieving this vision make possible for you?

Spending time with these questions helps you explore and connect with what is important to you and what about the change moves you closer to your vision of health. And if you can’t seem to harness the motivation to set aside time for an exercise such as this, get in touch with a certified health coach to walk you through this process and hold you accountable. 

You can find the directory of certified coaches here:

https://nbhwc.org/find-a-certified-coach/#!directory/ord=rnd