Is fear motivating?

Is fear a good motivator? I don’t think so. Let me explain why.

I have helped hundreds of people change their health and fitness. Some were initially motivated to change because of fear of illness or even death.

The initial wake-up call may have caused a fear of the unknown, of an unwanted future, but that fear fades fast. Real life gets in the way.

Fear doesn’t work for the long term.

There needs to be a compelling reason to change to stay motivated. When only 66% of people take prescribed medications, I don’t think fear is motivating for a lifestyle change.

Another startling statistic from the US,

“Studies have consistently shown that 20 percent to 30 percent of medication prescriptions are never filled, and that approximately 50 percent of medications for chronic disease are not taken as prescribed,”

NY Times

Motivation follows action, do something, feel good about it, do another thing.

Using the medication example, when you take your medications, at best nothing happens, or the side-effects interfere with your quality of life so you stop. The fear of something bad happening sometime in the future doesn’t inspire real change. Nothing is happening right now.

It’s funny but all the good things we are promised in fitness are the BIG things too. Lose 20 pounds FAST. Get 6 pack abs in 6 weeks. It is all the same because nothing happens right now. Marketers know this, so they sell the next quick fix, the next best diet, the next workout.

The thing to change – if you want to stay motivated – are the easiest ones to change. But they don’t feel like enough so we discount them. 

What will work now?

If you want to stay motivated you have to pick things that work for your life right now, not some perfect version of your life when you have more time, more energy, more money.

A new study from the University of Waterloo asked 669 people to rate the motivational value of five types of statements. The statements were about money, social stigma,  obesity, illness and death.

The participants ranked the statements for how motivating they would be when following a home workout. The participants were evenly split between men and women, with the majority under 45 years old.

According to the research fear of illness and death were the best motivators.

The following is one of the messages,

“One in four Canadians has clinical obesity”

University of Waterloo

I am not surprised it isn’t motivating…what does that even mean to most people?

Do you agree?

I agree that fear of illness or death is more motivating than money, social stigma or obesity, but not enough to sustain motivation.

If the initial reason to start is fear, that may be important, but after 25 years of helping people stay healthy, I can tell you I don’t think it works in the long run.

What do you think?

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla