{"id":71,"date":"2023-03-08T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/?p=71"},"modified":"2025-01-21T17:18:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:18:04","slug":"those-duh-uh-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/2023\/03\/08\/those-duh-uh-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"Those duh-uh moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

As New Year\u2019s resolutions fade, let\u2019s talk about motivation<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have no wish to climb Everest. It\u2019s dangerous, cold and ruinously expensive.\u00a0 But it was a podcast with one of the world\u2019s top Everest guides that made me realise something that actually I\u2019ve always known, and unlocked my motivation to do something I had despaired of ever getting round to.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Adrian Ballinger\u00b9 <\/span>said that they\u2019re often approached by wealthy, fit, hugely driven people, and have to gently tell them they are absolutely not ready for Everest. \u201cBut if we book it for this future year, you may be ready by then, if you now plan to do these things first.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, get something aspirational in the diary, then commit to the steps you\u2019ll need to get there.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s not a difficult concept, is it?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve noticed a few stories recently in which people have quite suddenly made a change or pursued an objective because they were exposed to something they probably knew already. It set me to wondering why that happens; not the \u201cah-ha\u201d moment of sudden enlightenment, but the \u201cduh-uh\u201d moment of surfacing something already-known, in a way that made me change my behaviour. Was there something here that could help enhance the motivation of ourselves and others?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, this University is stacked with world-class expertise in the matter. Over a coffee I chatted with Professor Martyn Standage, Director of the <\/span>Centre for Motivation and Health Behaviour Change\u00b2<\/span>.\u00a0 He explained a few concepts that seemed to fit with my experience. First was the idea of optimal challenge level, neither too easy nor too hard, which of course is why even Olympians set intermediate goals on a longer path. Those intermediate goals should be enjoyable and rewarding in their own right.\u00a0 This was probably the biggest bit of reframing for me; the first step really isn\u2019t that hard, but it would take effort and it would be fun.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a lot easier to get motivated for something that we value as important, central parts of our own identity, which prompted a lot of resonance in my story as the new realisation brought my family into it. Maybe the centrality of calendar commitments helped, as that\u2019s how my life runs nowadays!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m in year 2 of my 3-year process, and the year 3 goal is still in the calendar (in pencil). Even if I don\u2019t get it done, or if it slips to year 4 or 5, I\u2019ve already had a great time, learned a lot and found unexpected benefits in taking the steps along the way.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s hard to force an unlocking like this, but if our own motivation or that of our team mates is blocked, perhaps it\u2019s useful to reflect on how we\u2019re framing the challenge.\u00a0 What does it mean to your innermost self, where is the route, and what is there to enjoy about the path along the way?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Inger<\/a><\/p>\n

Learning and Organisational Development Manager, Workforce Development Team, Department of Human Resources<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Foot note<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00b9 Adrian Ballinger<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b2 Centre for Motivation and Health Behaviour Change<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As New Year\u2019s resolutions fade, let\u2019s talk about motivation\u00a0 I have no wish to climb Everest. It\u2019s dangerous, cold and ruinously expensive.\u00a0 But it was a podcast with one of the world\u2019s top Everest guides that made me realise something...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-simon-inger"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}