‘Why’? How this three letter word helps us stay committed

It’s time for another Wellness Weekend where I link up with Natalie from Natalie the Explorer and Leslie from Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After. Each month we write from a prompt based around our Wellness and this month the prompt is Commitment. This topic prompted me to reflect on how staying committed to our health and well being has not been quite as easy during the rollercoaster ride of emotions that we have been trying steer, living with COVID-19.

However, isolation will not be forever and we can still plan for the future and what we would like to change or maintain in our life. It has been difficult to stay committed to goals during COVID-19. My Saturday Sisters and I had been training for several runs in 2020 including a couple of Half Marathons and the possibility of a Full Marathon. We like to train for an event as it keeps us committed to a regular running program. My commitment has certainly been tested as most of the events have been postponed or cancelled.

Why then do we keep running and training, even though we aren’t able to run together?

The answer is because we need to stay focused and committed to maintain our fitness and distances we can run so that when the events are rescheduled we are prepared. We don’t have to start all over from the beginning to improve fitness levels because we have committed to maintain them.

During April I ran a 7-day Eat Healthy for Life Challenge in the Facebook Group to try and encourage us all to look at how we can improve our eating habits and ‘why’ we should. Baking has become a popular pastime during the weeks of #ISO. It is a wonderful stress reliever and of course the aroma of freshly baked goods is always tempting. We have turned to comfort food which is fine occasionally but not in the longer term to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Of course, your goal might be something that isn’t about health and wellness, however the principle of knowing your ‘Why’ is still the same.

Using your ‘Why’ to stay committed

I’ve written several times about goal setting and the importance of knowing ‘Why’ you want to achieve your particular goal. There is a whole section of resources in my Resource Library for Goal Setting.

When I’ve been coaching clients, I’ve found they are enthusiastic about working towards a goal, however the commitment to stay on track starts to wane as life takes over. When this happens, I try to bring them back to the question of ‘Why’?

Why have you chosen this goal? Why do you want to achieve it?

This week I was listening to Peta Gillian and Sally-Anne Milham on the Strong Healthy Women, Talking Well Being TV and one of the daily subjects was centred around ‘Why?’ I’ve put the link here if you want to listen to the 30 minute video.

I’ve listed below a couple of the main points which the ladies discussed in this post.

We usually concentrate on ‘How’ we achieve our goal – the tools and resources we will use.

However, we don’t delve into the ‘Why’ we are doing it. For example, I workout regularly and try to maintain a healthy balanced eating plan is my ‘How’. My ‘Why’ is because I want to take care of my body, mind and spirit, be an active grandmother to keep up with my gorgeous grandsons and to enjoy travelling and life with my husband.

Digging deeper to find your ‘Why?’

For example, you might want to lose weight or want to be fitter. Ask yourself Why you want this. You have an initial answer but then you need to drill further down to find out the real ‘Why’. Often we need to get to the point where we aren’t happy with ourselves and then our ‘Why’ becomes more important.

The 50 Reasons Exercise to find your ‘Why’?

Peta suggests that over the course of 5 days we write down 10 reasons Why we want to achieve or goal. We do this each day for 5 days, finishing with 50 reasons Why. This really is a great exercise to drill down to find the underlying reasons ‘Why?’ you want to do this. It gets harder as with each day to come up with different reasons but it is a great exercise if you can complete it.

Do you have a desire, dream or goal you would like to achieve? Have you given enough thought to ‘Why?’ you want to achieve it?

Will you undertake the 50 reasons Exercise?

I would love to hear your feedback and ways you stay committed to achieving your goal.