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On behalf of all the wonderful FertilityCare Practitioners at the Groesbeck FertilityCare Center, happy New Year’s! As fate would have it, I have the privilege of writing the first blog of the Groesbeck FertilityCare Center for 2024, an honor I also received last year for 2023. While I reviewed some helpful tips to turn over a new leaf in the new year last year, I thought it would be helpful this year to explore how motivation makes all the difference to sticking to new habits and choices.
Let’s start with a basic review of what motivation is. Motivation, in its simplest definition, is the “why” behind the something that someone does. It can be the reason a change is made, the reason a new habit is adopted, and the continued reason for perseverance in the maintenance of a new habit. A person can be strongly motivated or weakly motivated, and what may be a strong motivation for one person may be a weak motivation for another person. Motivation requires some examination and thought in the beginning, but understanding the “why” behind why you are doing something is critical to your success. Motivation makes all the difference in the long-term continuation of a new habit.
So what does motivation look like in real life? Since it’s the start of a new year, let’s take an example that usually falls somewhere on everyone’s top 5 resolution list: losing weight and exercising more. One person may say, “I want to lose weight so I can wear my jeans without feeling like I am offering up a penance akin to a hairshirt”. That in it of itself, seems like a valid reason and solid motivation for achieving the goal of losing weight (and may or may not be something I wrote down on my own list for achieving this goal- I’ll leave you to speculate). But in the comfy and tempting world of stretchy leggings and joggers, one can see that a person might need a more robust motivation for achieving their goal of losing weight. This is where the further examination and thought comes in. After some pondering, a person may say, “I know when I have maintained my weight within a certain range and exercised more, I feel better and more energized throughout the day; I sleep much more soundly at night; I have a much more positive outlook on life and can rebound from stressful situations more easily; and o yeah, my jeans fit and no longer feel like I am offering up a penance akin to a hairshirt.” A person who digs a little deeper to find big reasons for motivation is much more likely to stick with their new habits to help achieve that goal.
Motivation needs to be applied to learning the Creighton Model as well. If a couple is just sitting through the Introductory Session and required number of follow-ups to fulfill their church’s requirement for marriage prep, there may not be strong motivation for actually learning the method, which means the couple would be less likely to use the method successfully in the future, if at all. If, on the other hand, a couple is seriously looking to achieve a pregnancy due to concerns with infertility, that couple will be highly motivated to learn the Creighton Model well to achieve their goal of having a baby. And let me tell you, like any other situation in life, learning the Creighton Model and using it in real life is not always going to be a walk in the park, just like sticking to an alternative diet or exercising everyday is, even when you know the rewards will be worth it! That’s the time to remind yourself of what motivated you to start learning the Creighton Model anyway, to give you the grit to persevere on when the going gets tough. And remember, your Groesbeck FertilityCare Practitioners are here to help you when you need a little reminder of your motivation for learning the Creighton Model and support you when you need it. So take the time to examine your motivation for wanting to learn the Creighton Model and reach out to one of our practitioners today to get started!