What motivates people? And what doesn't? - 3 components in motivation!

We often wonder why a person who's suffering from an addiction doesn't just quit, when it's so obvious that the addiction is destroying one area after another in the persons life. Why doesn't the person see all the thing he/she may gain from getting clean? 

 

On the other hand, I have thought about the same thing when it comes to myself, probably like a 1 000 times. Why don't I exercise 3 times/week, when I know how good it'll do me? When I know how tired I get and how much my body hurts when I'm sitting still all day? Knowing these facts, I'm staying exactly where I've always been, maybe making some sporadic attempts to exercise, but any little thing that comes up turns into an excuses not to do it. "Not today... I'll do it tomorrow...".

I'm going to show you a model that may be helpful in understanding some of the concept of motivation. This comes from MI - Motivational Interviewing.

3 COMPONENTS IN MOTIVATION:

1) Will

How important is it to the person to change his/her behavior?

2) Being Able 

 How confident is the person in his/her own ability to make a change?

 
3) Being Ready

 How prepared is the person to actually begin taking the steps necessary to make this change?

The absolute dream scenario is that the person feels as he/she is "ready" in all these areas, that all the components are "high". This increases the probability that change is near. However, this is usually not the case. 

In one scenario, the "Will" is strong, but "Being able" is low. The person knows that making a change is extremely important, but doesn't have the ability to do so. The person envisions a failure. In this situation, the person might feel torn apart. Maybe he/she has tried several times before, but it hasn't worked. This means that the person will not be particularly "Ready" to get started trying again.
 
In the other scenario, the "Will" is low. The person doesn't think his/her behavior is a problem; there is no reason to make a change if it's not needed. Other people might notice a lot of obvious problems arising from the behavior, but the person him/herself thinks that his/her situation is fine as it is. The person might be confident ("Being able") that she/he can make a change if he/she only wants to. But he/she doesn't. This means that the person isn't particularly "Ready" to change.


Do you recognize yourself? Regarding any change you wanted to do in life, or changes that other people think you ought to do? Or do you recognize any person that you know, who's suffering from substance abuse, in this model? Grab a pen and write it down! It'll help you organize your thoughts and feelings! 

It can also be a reminder when you feel hopeless in understanding why your loved one suffering from an addiction doesn't "just quit". 

Take care!
/Carina