Pot Food at the Wedding and Positive Motivation Theory
Dogs are Smarter than People/Living Happy
So, if you want to hear about the pot food (and arrest) at a wedding, you’ll have to listen to the RANDOM THOUGHTS part of our podcast, which we don’t transcribe, but it’s right here, and it’s after the 30 second mark for the first few minutes.
Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:18:16 | Recorded on May 3, 2022
Last week on WRITE BETTER NOW, we talked about fear for our characters as we write, and not all of you are writers, but I bet a lot of you are characters. Sorry! We couldn’t help teasing you there.
Anyway, FEAR is great when it comes to writing novels and short stories and getting our characters to do things proactively on the page.
But in real life? Eh . . . It can be a problem.
A lot of us use fear to motivate us to do things. Sometimes we do this consciously. Sometimes we do this subconsciously. But it’s basically the act of doing things because we don’t want an outcome that we’re afraid of.
Like what?
We go to work because we’re afraid of losing our house to bankruptcy.
We go on a diet because we’re afraid of people’s scorn if we’re at our maximum density.
We are kind to our spouse when they are being a putz because we’re afraid of being alone.
And all those things? They are stressful.
It stresses you out if you’re always doing things because you’re afraid. And it also stresses you out if you’re always not doing things because you’re afraid.
Fear may keep you employed, fit, and in a relationship (albeit a potentially toxic one), but it’s not super helpful if you’re trying to not be anxious and stressed.
SO, HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOURSELF INSTEAD?
One cool way is protection motivation theory.
What’s that?
According to CommunicationTheory.org,
“The theory therefore says that in order for an individual to adopt a health behavior, they need to believe that there is a severe threat that is likely to occur and that by adopting a health behavior, they can effectively reduce the threat. The individual should also be convinced that he is capable of engaging in the behavior which should not cost him a lot.”
Wait, doesn’t that sound like some fear-based motivation?
A bit. But a big part of it is that there is both a threat appraisal and a coping appraisal.
As the Warbleton Council writes
1. Threat assessment
Fear of illness or injury predisposes to act (for example, when you are smoking and coughing a lot).
In turn, this element is made up of the perception of severity (the possible harm to be suffered) and susceptibility (the level of risk the person is at), in addition to the intrinsic benefits of risky behavior.
2. Assessment of coping behavior
It is the probability of success perceived by the person, that is, the perception they have that their response will be effective in reducing the threat, in addition to the perception of self-efficacy (the person will be able to adopt preventive measures).
These variables will provide in the person a perspective on the costs and benefits of performing the behavior.
When you appraise the threat and coping mechanisms, you start to figure out if you should make change and what amount of changes you should undergo.
The Communication Theory article breaks all this down pretty brilliantly, so you should check it out, but it’s about intention and how you keep yourself safe and change your behavior when you perceive threats.
There’s a fascinating article about this theory and food purchasing behavior during COVID-19 and our shopping habits.
DOG TIP FOR LIFE
Just go for it, damn it. No fear.
LINK WE MENTION IN RANDOM THOUGHTS
SHOUT OUT!
The music we’ve clipped and shortened in this podcast is awesome and is made available through the Creative Commons License.
Here’s a link to that and the artist’s website. Who is this artist and what is this song? It’s “Summer Spliff” by Broke For Free.
AND we are transitioning to a new writer podcast called WRITE BETTER NOW! You’ll be able to check it out here starting in 2022!
We have a podcast, LOVING THE STRANGE, which we stream live on Carrie’s Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn on Fridays. Her Facebook and Twitter handles are all carriejonesbooks or carriejonesbook.
Carrie is reading one of her poems every week on CARRIE DOES POEMS. And there you go! Whew! That’s a lot!