Fully Willing: Motivation, #1

By Noel Lyons

Discover a simple, proven framework for helping clients stick with healthy lifestyle changes 

Written for Health, Wellness Coaches (and allied Health Professionals) - wishing to upgrade their coaching and motivational skills - by WellCoach UK Founder Noel Lyons MSc (since 2004). With revealing research from the latest science on motivation, Fully Willing presents 21 evidence-based principles for facilitating self-motivated action toward healthy lifestyle change. Fusing self-determination theory with applied behaviour change science ensures the client go's beyond doing merely what the 'expert' wants or expects them to do. It enables them to reach the point of wanting to do it for themself - Yes Fully Willing...

Translating the latest coaching psychology science into best practise, in an easy to understand and concise manner.

Given the increasingly, alarming physical and mental health statistics in the world today; it's reassuring to remember - science has answers!  And we need more health and wellness professionals asking the right coaching questions...

"Noel Lyons is the real deal! I have known his work for years and watched him transform clients health and fitness in amazing ways!  This book will be a great introduction to an awesome health coach! " - Mimi Peak (ICF Certified Coach and Owner of Peak Experiences Coaching)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Noel Lyons
• Release date: Sep 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201638740

Book preview

Introduction

The Superpower of all Superpowers has to be Self-Determination

Much has been written about motivation, especially in self-help books. It’s often the critical, yet missing, ingredient to many things in life. It’s what drives us through our day. It’s what makes us come alive. It’s the energy for any action, helping explain why we do what we do. The absence of motivation being as apparent as its presence, for instance when considering voluntary behaviours such as eating more healthily or remaining physically active.

Given motivation’s popularity, it’s perhaps no surprise misconceptions circulate around it, often further perpetuating the myths. We hear motivation is something we need to ‘find’. That it is ‘simple’: We are either motivated or we are not. We can turn it on or off like a switch. It varies only in its strength. That a person either has sufficient motivation, or they don’t. Some even attach a value to it in that low motivation is bad or high motivation is good, with the responsibility for it being firmly on the individual. As you will come to see, none of these represent particularly valid or reliable approaches when it comes to addressing ongoing matters of motivation in real life situations. What is needed is a proven, theoretical model of motivation, supported by science.

For over 30 years now, I’ve been fascinated by how to best help people undergo positive lifestyle changes. Plus what it takes to succeed in life in general and ultimately how to thrive or flourish as a person. With that in mind, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has always intrigued me. However, the gap has long been in being able to apply the theory into best coaching practise in a sufficiently, rigorous manner.

Hence, my instant interest in a scientific paper published in 2020: A classification of motivation and behaviour change techniques used in self-determination theory-based interventions in health contexts. [see chapter 9 - ref (14)]. It’s what helps takes this book beyond the realm of self-help, into applying what the science is teaching us, owing much to the dedicated and collaborative work of multiple researchers worldwide.

What follows is my attempt to both summarise and simplify that science, so that more health practitioners (and their clients/patients) can benefit from Self-Determination Theory. After all, there’s much useable know-how knowledge in scientific papers and academic handbooks that often gets missed or quickly forgotten - if seen at all! Hence, I feel there’s a need for this easy-to-understand and concise guide.

Who This Book Is For:

Given my own background in wellness, this book is primarily aimed at health coaches, fitness leaders, nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals. The thrust is also towards encouraging greater participation in physical activity; a particular passion of mine given the multitude of advantages it bestows. Evidence-based, Self-Determination Theory can raise your own level of awareness around motivation as well as your general ability to better understand and influence the motivation of others. This can only add to the overall professional service and