The Insights Gained from Scribbling on Fitness
In a world where motivation and success often hinge on identity, labeling oneself as a writer or exerciser can significantly impact one's journey in these domains. This insight is rooted in the Identity-Based Motivation Theory, which posits that when a behaviour becomes part of an individual's identity, persistence and success follow suit.
For instance, identifying as a writer leads individuals to internalize writing as part of their self-concept, thereby fostering intrinsic motivation, effort, and resilience through challenges. Similarly, adopting the identity of an exerciser enhances exercise self-efficacy and daily motivation, predicting greater exercise participation and sustained behaviour.
In exercise, self-efficacy – the belief in one’s capability to perform an activity – is a strong predictor of consistent participation and success. When individuals label themselves as exercisers, their exercise self-efficacy rises, reducing procrastination and increasing effort, leading to better exercise adherence and outcomes. Furthermore, interventions that help people shift from self-critical to self-accepting mindsets (embracing exercise as part of their identity without perfectionism) also enhance motivation and integration of exercise behaviours.
The realm of writing is no exception. Although less directly covered in the search results, related findings from achievement motivation studies indicate that self-efficacy and motivation regulation influence writing success. Identifying as a writer likely aligns with higher perceived competence and mastery, which fosters persistence and improved writing performance.
Kate M. Colby, the author of this guest post, finds this concept particularly relevant in her own journey. As a writer of multi-genre fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as a writing-craft blogger, Colby believes that labeling oneself as a writer or "someone who writes" is crucial for success as a writer.
Colby, who graduated summa cum laude from Baker University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Creative Writing, and Sociology, has been trying to get back into exercise since graduating university. She finds exercise more motivating with specific, health-related goals. To track her progress, she uses a spreadsheet to log daily word counts for writing and plans to apply a similar system for exercise progress tracking.
Inspiration often comes from unexpected sources. For Colby, it was a middle-aged man at the gym, affectionately known as "Stair Master Guy", who inspires commitment with his consistent exercise routine. On the other hand, the slowness and difficulty of both writing and physical fitness journeys have been a source of challenge. Yet, Colby expresses hope in the parallels between her writing and physical fitness progress, finding a connection between her "health" journey and her "writing" journey.
The author acknowledges the difficulty and slowness of both writing and physical fitness journeys. However, she finds motivation in setting specific, short-term, and long-term goals. For instance, the motivation to finish a book was sparked by setting these types of goals.
In conclusion, adopting an identity as a “writer” or “exerciser” not only motivates initial engagement but also sustains effort through challenges by making the activity part of the individual’s self-concept. This effect is supported by both theoretical models of self-motivation and empirical evidence. As Colby continues her journey, she finds accountability and encouragement in having a partner for both writing and exercise goals, reminding us that progress, no matter how slow, is a testament to our resilience and determination.
- In the realms of both health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise, adopting the identity as an "exerciser" or "writer" greatly contributes to building exercise self-efficacy or higher perceived competence, which, in turn, brings about persistence, resilience, and improved performance.
- According to the Identity-Based Motivation Theory, labeling oneself as an exerciser or writer can significantly enhance one's motivation, self-efficacy, and daily motivation, thus predicting greater engagement and sustained success in health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise domains.
