“You are the knob.”

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I walk up and sit down at the rower.

Women sits on the next rower: “Where is the intensity knob?”

Me: “You are the knob. (Clarifying) The machine is not doing something to you, you are doing something to the machine. You control the effort, the rower provides resistance to that effort.”

My little speech did not stick, it was a little metaphysical for the time and place. But there was a beauty in her position and action: she was trying to do something out of her comfort zone in hope if benefiting her life (some aspect somewhere within her comfort zone).

Motivation drives all actions. This woman’s motivation was to gain muscle (I asked) although she was unsure as to how to go about it. Motivation makes you do things to reach goals external to the immediate task. For example: Why do men do yoga which is dominated by women in classes? Well it will help their surfing, or their squat, or their jujitsu; an activity which they value. With no value there is no motivation.

Finding what people value is the key to finding motivation to do things that are on the parameter of the activity which they value. Find value, then motivate. The patient will do the rest.

What if patient values cannot be pin-pointed or are not congruent with the aims of therapy? Is a patient without motivation un-helpable?

– Matt D