Key Components of HR Wellness and Motivation Programs: It's Not What You Think!

I was talking to a health and benefits manager about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. She is reading articles that tell her that only intrinsic motivations matter. But I know so much research that validates my instant-salivation when someone says $100 Amazon Gift-Card. So here's my take, in written form:

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that is focused outward, to the environment that the person is in. For example, you give people a $100 gift card or a reduction in their health insurance premiums if they get screened by their doctor and then talk with a health coach at least once a month, to focus on reducing weight, blood pressure or emotional stress in their lives - all factors that are known to lead to expensive illnesses. The person is taking action because you are dangling money (an external factor) or you are threatening them with a negative outcome (higher premiums).

Intrinsic motivation is motivation (desire) that stems from inside the person. The group increases the customer satisfaction by decreasing the fail rate of a product, and they do that because they are given more autonomy in their work and they are on fire to do a good job, because a good job reflects on their vision of themselves. They want to see themselves as Quality Performers, so they are internally-powered to think of new ideas and put them into practice. They take ownership of the result because they truly, deeply care (are motivated).

However, human beings are complex, and simple definitions don't model human beings very well. Most people take action or stop taking action, or shift their internal beliefs, because of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most successful Human Resources changes include both intrinsic and extrinsic components. In the intrinsic example above, the professionals started to take more ownership of the final result (shifted to more intrinsic motivation) when they were given more power and autonomy to make changes; if the company just talks, or brings in a "motivational speaker," the results will not last, because deep desire isn't engaged by just talk.

One interesting result is that positive external incentives work more effectively than negative incentives. From a psychology perspective, consider that if you want people to change deeply ingrained habits, are they more likely to do so if they are cheerfully walking toward a reward, or are angry and resentful (you are increasing their premiums unless they comply)?

In the example of improving health outcomes, the best results seem to include both extrinsic factors (the positive financial incentives) and the addition of intrinsic motivation. The health coaches provide encouragement and inspiration, and the best coaches will stress the outcome of the changes: that the employee will be more likely to stay healthy for their children if they maintain a healthy weight and blood pressure. A strong desire to do the best for one's children is a common intrinsic motivation to get healthier.

Understanding that people are complex, that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations work best when both are active, and that carrots (positives) work better than sticks (negatives) can help guide a company to their true end goal - greater profits through more educated and trained, happier and more engaged workers.

2 key concerns and 4 big solutions for perimenopause and menopause

When you are 40-50 years old and female, you are in perimenopause, the time when major changes are happening all over your body, on the road to the major landmark of menopause. Women have to accomplish in approximately 18 months what a man gets to spread out over a decade. [The male version is andropause, when a man's internal biochemistry shifts from reproduction to conservation of resources for aging.]

Problem #1:  Failing Thyroid

One of the most common problems is a failing thyroid. While many changes of perimenopause and menopause are normal parts of life, including hot flashes, a failing thyroid needs intervention,

What does thyroid hormone do?

Thyroid hormone must be absorbed by every cell in your body. It is the metabolism hormone. Without it, you will experience more and more lethargy, you will constantly feel cold, you will gain more and more weight and (if the thyroid levels fall low enough), you will die. The ONLY way to deal with a thyroid that is failing to produce enough T4 (which is converted to the active hormone T3) is to supplement with genuine T4 or T3. Syntheroid doesn't work well for a lot of people but it's cheap so you'll probably start with that one. Armour is "natural" in that it is taken from the bodies of pigs who were killed for meat, and that natural moniker appeals to some of us. The doses aren't going to be precisely equal because every pig is different, which is why your doc may not love it; it's harder to feel good if you're not getting the same dose every day, so if your ideology pushes you to Armour (which I love, by the way), you understand that her concern is your health, not anything sinister, please. You can also take T3 directly, whose brand name is Cytomel.

Your body needs you to take T4 or T3 every day, so your cells can have the chemical it needs to run your metabolism. There are NO herbs, and iodine supplements are included here, that can substitute for thyroid hormone. If you genuinely need it, do please take it. An iodine supplement can only help if you are not producing hormone due to an actual iodine deficiency and if you are eating a healthy diet, you don't have one. You can harm yourself very severely if you overdose on iodine, so don't muck around with this. Do what your body needs.

Another cure: get serious about exercise.  Do it; stop making excuses.  I KNOW that when you aren't sleeping enough, etc. you get frantic about What Isn't Getting Done.  This increases your stress.  There is a solution, it is actually the ONLY solution, and it will work.

Here's the solution: cut your to-do list in half.  I. AM. SERIOUS.  For the first two years that perimenopause starts and the 18 months of actual menopause you need to cut back your responsibilities sharply.  You have to.  You are the exquisite ancestral result of 10,000 generations of people who dealt with reality, not with what they wished was reality; those folks ended up dead and left the gene pool.  You have to have less worries and responsibilities.  Get a good night's sleep and hire a life coach like me and make it happen.  

This is a major biological transition and moderate exercise (energetic walking, treadmilling and spinning, yoga, weights work, classes, etc.) every single day will improve your hormonal balance every single day.  I know you hate this truth, but it is a truth, supported by reams of clinical evidence.  Moving enough to get a mild sweat going shifts your bouncing hormone levels onto a more even keel.  They need to trend downward slowly; you can deal with that.  It's when they are all over the place that your poor brain gets crazy and has you drenching sweat one minute and freezing the next and sleeping deeply and healthfully never  If you want the torment to stop, lace up your shoes and re-read/view/listen to the Moving Domain. 

Taking hormone supplements (even the natural, bioidentical, blah-blah stuff) ups your chances of breast cancer.  Think breast cancer will be less hassle than exercising every day?  By the time we hit 45, we're past the fantasy that devastating problems and illnesses only happen to other people.  Whatever it takes, make exercise and healthy eating your priority.

Eat more soy.  Soy metabolizes as a molecule that looks enough like estradiol (estrogen) that it connects to hormone receptors on cells and makes your body think it has more hormone than it really does.  So your peri- and menopause symptoms are less intense.  Japanese women have lower levels of reproductive cancers and easier menopause and a lot of the reason is soy in the diet.  Soy milk.  Edamame.  Tempeh.  Tofu that's flavored.  If all you've ever eaten is the boring while stuff, that's only for the hard-core.  Ordinary folks like me get the flavored stuff, yum.  Non-meat sausage, bacon and you-name-it can be made from tapioca and other healthy substances, but a lot of it is soy.  Enjoy!

Problem #2: Catastrophically dropping calorie requirements

This cause of slow and steady weight gain during the perimenopause and menopause years is a sharp drop in your metabolic rate.  You burn less calories just running basic processes.  You will have to cut 100-300 calories per day out of what you input by changing what you eat or eating less overall food per day.  You’ll be mildly hungry a lot of the time, because of the crazy hormones, and if you respond with eating, you will compound the problem. 

Good news: exercise dulls your appetite as well as revving up your metabolism for several hours.  The amount you burn working out is trivial compared to the benefit of boosting your metabolism.  Adding muscle – not bulk, remember; breathe! – adds to your metabolic rate because muscles burn up calories getting ready to leap into action, whereas fat just sits there.

The good news about this 2^nd issue is that you don’t need a manufactured hormone to save you.  You can be the heroine of this story all on your own. 

Check out  101 Stress Busters for Energy, Joy & Healthy Longevity for great ideas!!  Only $1.99 on Kindle; $9.99 in paper.  

www.soaringdragon.biz
victoria@soaringdragon.biz

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Losing weight and staying healthy has never been harder - and you know this.  Junk food is everywhere, employers want us to overwork and never exercise, have hobbies or any fun, and we have kids, cats and parents - not to mention cell phones - that need attending to.

But the reason we don't have what we want is only because we aren't going about it in a comprehensive way.  We CAN make time for the healthy habits that we need to have a joyful and vibrant life, with peace of mind and clothes that fit the healthy size we want to be.  Willpower won't do it, but having a touchstone will.  Buying a bike and not riding it won't, but a movement plan that fits your life as it really exists.  Sleeping for 8 hours and reclaiming your birthright of clear thinking and energy can be yours.  The deep psychic surgery that excises the voices that are keeping you stuck is hard work but you have courage, and you WILL succeed - because you have the best guide in the world, right here, working to make it happen.  It will!

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The "fine print" is that if I let you have a $100 class for FREE, you have to make a commitment to FINISH it - no "I'm too busy" stuff.  If you aren't willing to clear your calendar for 2 hours/week to make massive changes in your "problems list" - if you don't really want to let go of the pain and disappointment that you are currently living with, then let me be blunt: don't waste my time.  I will be giving 100% to you and I need a commitment back from you.  Come back when your level of pain has reached the unbearable point and you are ready to commit.  Even though it will be $97 or more by then, if you are willing to commit, then it will work for you.  If you aren't ready to let go of what isn't working, then you aren't ready.  All is well.  You'll know when it's time, because the pain will propel you to the comprehensive solution of never having to diet again. 

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