Hello my friends, and welcome back to not another Mindset show. I’m your host, Dr. Kasey Jo. My goal with this podcast is to take the science of mindset and behavior change and distill it down into actionable takeaways for you. Together we’re gonna unpack research around motivations, self-sabotage, willpower, and so much more, and we’re going to take all of that and translate it into strategies you can immediately apply to your health fitness.

Relationships, business, marketing clients, all of the things. But just to be clear, it’s not all serious and Sy around here. We’re gonna have a ton of fun too, and I’m so excited to share all of this with you. Alright, let’s go ahead and get into the episode. Hello. Welcome back. Today’s episode actually.

Originated from a conversation that we were having in a group call for the health Mindset coaching certification. So we are in the middle of our 10th round of HMCC right now, and we were talking about motivation and the different types of motivation that exist. So. I have an entire podcast episode on the different types of motivation and the quote unquote best type of motivation, what type of motivation you should really be trying to uncover in your clients, in your coaching practices, and with yourself.

So I’ll make sure that that episode is linked in the show notes, so you can go, well listen to that after this one, but we were having this conversation because. On the motivation continuum, the different types of motivation, we’re essentially looking at. The differences in types of motivation from extrinsic, so very external from something someone else to intrinsic motivation.

And intrinsic motivation is you’re doing it because you enjoy it. It’s really personally rewarding for you. And the closer we can get to intrinsic motivation, the better. Because we are getting more autonomous with the motivation, it’s doing it for ourselves, more self-determined. It’s based on ourselves.

This is actually coming from self-determination theory. So the more self-determined, the more autonomous and the closer to intrinsic motivation, the better and the better for long-term lasting behavior changes, things that you’ll actually stick to. So what this student asked me was. What if my client’s goal is only to lose weight, and I can’t seem to get anything else from her when it comes to deeper or more meaningful reasons, like long-term health, longevity, et cetera.

So her concern was around. The desire to lose weight, and that that would be inherently an extrinsic motivator. I want to lose weight. That’s not necessarily something I want to do for enjoyment, for personal reward, whatever, and her worry is that. If this client is so focused on this weight loss goal and none of these other things like, oh, I want more energy and I want to be a healthy role model or whatever, she’s worried that this client may lose the weight and this client is successfully going through like a dieting phase.

That she will lose the weight and either not be able to keep it off or lose those healthy habits after the fact. And you know, then probably also not keep off the weight that she lost. And this was a really interesting question, which is why I’m bringing it to the podcast because I think this is something that is talked about a lot.

I do see it talked about a lot. How weight loss shouldn’t really be the goal that we should be focusing on all of the other things like our health and taking care of ourselves. And we shouldn’t want to go to the gym just to lose weight and like that’s a conversation that happens a lot. And it’s also likely, if it’s a concern of this coach, then it might be a concern of yours as well, if you’re also a coach or if you’re going through your own weight loss, health and fitness journey.

And it kind of just begs the question. Is it bad to have weight loss be the primary goal, the primary focus? And that’s kind of, that was what was underlying this coach’s question to me when we were on this group call. And so I kind of like noodled on it for a second and I asked her if how she’s going about.

Dealing with this situation. Like what? What is she doing? And if the direction she’s trying to take is. Essentially feed that client. Other reasons that she should be motivated to do this? There’s so many other reasons and benefits and things that you could get from exercising and eating well and taking care of yourself and sleeping and drinking water.

And she said yes. Like I, I keep trying to like position certain questions so that she comes up with other reasons why she wants to change her health behaviors and. I went back to her and said that instead of trying to fish for other motivators, like entirely other separate things, what if we were just to take the weight loss goal and try to go deeper with that and.

What I mean with that is that there may be other forms of motivation, things that she wants and desires from that weight loss outcome or the process of getting there that we could uncover without it having to be. Like, oh, I, I wanna have more energy, or I want to age healthfully, whatever. Maybe there’s something deeper rooted underneath still that weight loss goal that would feel more intrinsically motivated.

And on that point too, we don’t necessarily know what the. Real desire, the want. The motivation is we know that the outcome is that she wants to lose weight, and so far things are going well with that outcome in mind, but we don’t actually know what is motivating her to do that. I gotta take a quick pause here to talk to you about something very important.

Your coaching forms, you know, like your application form. Check-in forms. Intake forms. You my friend, are probably missing out on a huge opportunity here because most coaches see these forms as nothing but information gatherers. And I’m here to tell you they should be doing so. Much more for you. Your coaching forms should be helping your clients shift their mindset and make behavior changes that actually last.

And your forms really do have the power to do that. And I wanna show you exactly how inside my recently updated and upgraded DIY workshop miniseries transform your forms. This DIY program is a short series of video trainings from me where you’ll learn exactly how to use. The science of mindset and behavior change in your coaching forms.

So yes, we’re talking application form, intake forms, check-in forms, and. We’ll even dive into your sales calls and exit surveys. This is the easiest, fastest, and most affordable way to start, including science backed strategies into your coaching practices. So it’s no wonder transform your forms is actually my most popular DIY program.

And now with these new updates, it’s even better than ever. Over 700 coaches have already picked up this workshop series. Check out the link in the show notes to learn more so. Instead of trying to fish for like all of these other things, which honestly could end up backfiring because if you, as the coach are saying, well, why don’t you care about these things?

Or Why don’t you want to age better? Why don’t you want to increase your longevity? Why are those non motivators for you? Um, and not necessarily saying that this coach was presenting things that way, but we can end up doing that where we’re like, okay, we keep just only talking about weight loss, but aren’t there other things you care about too?

It can. Go a handful of ways, but it can go one way where now that person is thinking like, yeah, I do care about those things, but that’s not necessarily their own thing. It’s coming from you as the coach. So now you’re sort of just putting on them all of these other reasons and things that they should care about.

And although they may agree with you that those things are important, they don’t actually have like a personal tie to it. So you’re, you’re still not really doing much, even if they’re like, yeah. I care about those things too. It’s not actually moving the needle towards more intrinsic motivation, which is what we’re trying to do.

So it could also go the direction of, which is a positive thing still, but you could be presenting all of these different things to them, and then now they’re kind of thinking about them for the first time. Like, oh wow, yeah, I didn’t think about how, what I’m doing in order to lose weight. Are behaviors that would help me forever and never and keep me alive longer.

And like I haven’t really thought about that before. And so now maybe they’re thinking about it, but it’s still not like their own values and their own belief system. At least not yet. So. Instead again, like how do we just dive deeper underneath this weight loss goal and see if we can uncover some other intrinsic motivators, things that will help our clients stick to the plan, stick to these behavior change, maintain their weight loss, all of the above.

Um, and the first thing that I said was. Is there some sort of personal reward that we could tie to this outcome goal? So whether that’s, you know, just the, the simple fact of working towards something, putting effort and dedication into something and be very, being very focused on it for this shorter period of time.

Is there a way we could present questions and talk to our clients in a way where they are telling you like, oh, this process is. Helping me recognize that I can stick to things that I, when I put my head down and I’m determined, like I can make shit happen. So now it’s not necessarily about the weight loss goal, it’s about the fact that I was presented with this challenge and I’m working through it and I am putting myself first right now.

And that’s not something I typically do. So there could be some other values and beliefs that we can tie. This weight loss goal too, that makes the whole process more closely related to an intrinsic motivation. And I’m, I’m saying it kind of weird there, like more closely related to intrinsic motivation because intrinsic motivation is different than the other types of motivation.

However, there are. A couple other types of motivation, integrated and, and identified regulation is what they’re called. I just like don’t wanna bore you with those words, um, that aren’t necessarily considered intrinsic motivation, but they’re closer to it. They’re more autonomous, they’re more self-determined, and they’re quote unquote better than maybe other types of motivation.

And the next one is enjoyment of the process. You know, focus on the process, not the outcome. We hear that stuff all of the time. But how can we help our clients? Again, don’t tell them these things, but help them come to realize that they are enjoying the process, that they’re having fun with it, that they’re enjoying tracking their data and trying different things, and seeing how that makes a difference and how it makes them feel and get kind of into this research mode of.

What could I try? What could I do, and how is that gonna make a difference? And enjoying that process, enjoying their workouts. I know that’s an easier said than done type of thing when we’re helping people get more consistent with exercise, but maybe not that, but maybe it’s every time I finish a workout, I feel so good about myself.

Like how are you prompting your clients to. Realize these things and recognize these things because all of that stuff is going to help them continue to do this long term. Tying it back into values. What are your, what do your clients actually value? Do they value being a healthy role model for their family because they, yeah, they have a, a, one of their core values is I want my family to be healthy and taking care of, so if consistent exercise, eating well, taking care of themselves, provides that and is tied back to that value.

That’s what’s going to help them stick to things long term. And you know, something else that I didn’t even have this written down or wasn’t, part of the conversation that comes up for me is if losing weight and going through this process makes you more confident and maybe not even just confident in how you look, but confident in your ability to do these things.

Like that’s a huge, enormous, amazing side effect or. You’re showing to yourself, you’re proving to yourself that like you can do hard things, you can do these things. And how often are we really helping our clients uncover all of that? Because the examples that I just shared are, are just a few. There’s so many other things that could be underlying this weight loss goal that we’re not being intentional inside our coaching to help our clients uncover.

But that is. That my friends, is real mindset coaching. That’s real behavior change coaching, and it goes beyond setting macros and creating a training plan. And it’s crucial if you want your clients to continue to be successful long-term, you want them to stick to the plan, et cetera. And yeah, this is what we’re talking about, literally nonstop inside the health mindset coaching certification.

And like I said, this, this is where this conversation came from in the first place. So. In general, though, I don’t, I don’t think the question should be is having weight loss as a goal, a bad thing? Like is it bad to have weight loss as our primary goal? And instead, the question should be, why? Do you want to lose weight?

What is motivating you to lose weight in the first place? So if we’re, we’re so hung up on the outcome goal, but the reality is people’s motivators for that goal are really what’s most important. Is it more intrinsic? Is it more extrinsic? Are they inherently, are you inherently wanting to lose weight for.

Something or someone else? Or is it for you? Are you doing this for yourself? Are there some personal rewards and enjoyment that comes from it? That makes the a huge difference? Two people could have the same goal to lose weight, but the underlying motivation, the underlying stuff, is really what makes the difference.

It’s not innately bad to want to lose weight, to want to change your body. Especially if doing so is going to make you healthier. So where we run into issues, negative feelings, body shame, all of the stuff that you know anti-D diet culture really grasps onto. Where we run into that is when the underlying motivation, this is at least my perspective, my educational assumption here is if the underlying motivation for that goal.

Is not psychologically healthy or psychologically like productive because that’s where then we run into, okay, I lost the weight and now I gained it back. Yo-yo dieting and just long-term inability to maintain that weight loss. Yeah. It’s a, it’s a very nuanced conversation, which is why I wanted to bring this to the podcast, and I’m sure your gears are turning in different directions now too, but I think that’s just like always so much the case.

It’s not, is this thing good or bad? That’s all or nothing thinking at its finest. It’s, well, where is it coming from? Why does it exist? Who is this person? What is the context? It depends my friends. So I’m gonna leave you with that. I hope this got you thinking a little bit, and especially knowing that so many of you are health and fitness professionals that are helping your clients.

Do exactly this to lose weight and they want to lose weight, and they’re coming to you saying that. Just a reminder that there’s so much more that’s going on beneath the surface, and if you can get there, that’s how you become a damn good coach. Okay, that’s all I have for you. Thank you for being here, and I’ll see you next time.

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Alright, my friends, that is all I have for you this time. I so appreciate you being here and love to see you prioritizing your growth. I’ll see you next time.