Your Why: Unshakeable Motivation for Your Pursuit of Health and a Purposeful Life
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to maintain their wellness routines effortlessly, while others fall off track despite their best intentions? The difference often comes down to one powerful force: their why.
In our modern world, we’re conditioned to focus on outcomes—weight loss, clear skin, better sleep, more energy. But what if your true motivation isn’t found in the outcome, but in the reason you began the journey in the first place?
What Is Your "Why"?
Your why is not about quick fixes or checking off goals—it’s the deeply personal, emotionally charged reason you choose to pursue health and wholeness, purpose and fulfillment. It’s the fuel that drives you forward when willpower runs dry. Maybe your why is to to finally feel at home in your body, or to be fully present for the people you love or to have an impact on people or on the planet. For me, my health and wellness-related why came through years of disconnection—ignoring my body’s signals, pushing through symptoms, and treating discomfort like a problem to be silenced. It wasn’t until I truly listened to my body that I understood: health is not a luxury—it’s the foundation for everything else. Then my goal became feeling good, living fully and completely in alignment with my body and spirit.
Why Motivation Alone Isn’t Enough
It’s easy to be motivated when everything is going well. You’re sleeping enough, eating clean, staying active. But when stress hits—deadlines, kids, conflicts, fatigue—motivation often disappears. We also have those moments where everything is great but you have a “lapse” or where you fall off the routine and it goes from one day to one week. That’s when your why steps in.
Your why acts like a root system. It anchors you when life gets messy. Instead of spiraling into old habits or harsh self-talk, self-judgment and anxiety it reminds you: this is why I started. It motivates you to choose yourself again. The choices that you then are motivated to make are in alignment with your initial why with the feeling you want to feel. When my health journey began, it wasn’t with a list of rules—it was with a single intention: to feel connected to myself and to feel good again. Once that became my compass, every choice had purpose. It was not about “healthy” or “unhealthy” for me, and it should not be for you either because everyone is unique and different, it’s that my choices were made because of the deep why I was focused on attaining and moving toward every day.
Discovering Your Personal Why
To uncover your why, you have to go deeper than surface-level goals. Here are a few journaling prompts that helped me:
When do I feel most alive and aligned?
Who benefits when I’m healthy, grounded, and emotionally well? Who do I want to benefit from my energy, my presence and my happiness?
What pain or pattern do I want to leave behind in the old version of you?
What kind of life do I want to wake up to each day?
This reflection isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. The more honestly you explore, the more clarity you’ll find. For me, the more I healed emotionally, the more I understood that my physical symptoms were never isolated—they were expressions of a deeper imbalance. Health isn’t just physical. Emotions, childhood experiences, self-talk—it’s all connected. (BTW if you want to read more about my realizations read this article here.)
Make Your Why Visible
Once you’ve found your why, make it part of your daily life. Write it somewhere you’ll see it. Share it with someone you trust. Turn it into a mantra or an affirmation that you write every morning in your journal or repeat when you walk (my favourite method). This is about reinforcing your deeper reason, especially when you’re tempted to quit. I often revisit mine day after day, because those moments when I reconnect to my why are what really matter. In those silent moments on your own. When its just you and you, that’s when your resilience is built.
From Habits to Identity
The magic happens when your why becomes part of your identity. You don’t just go for walks—you’re someone who nurtures your body. You don’t just meditate—you’re someone who seeks inner peace. When I began to shift from doing healthy things to being someone who values myself and my body, my choices became less about effort and more about embodiment.
It wasn’t always easy. I had to rewrite years of inner criticism, old beliefs, and trauma responses that kept me in survival mode. But by creating space—through silence, journaling, movement, coaching—I learned to recognize the patterns and gently shift them. That transformation is what I now offer as a coach: not just new habits, but new awareness and a renewed sense of motivation that comes from deep inside you.
Anchor Yourself in Purpose
At the end of the day, your health journey, and your life journey and purpose is uniquely yours. Trends will come and go. Motivation will ebb and flow. But your why—your deep, unshakeable reason—can be the anchor that grounds you in any storm.
So ask yourself: Why does this (insert any goal or activity) matter to me? Not just today, but for the life I want to build.
Then move from that place. With compassion. With purpose. And with the steady belief that you are worth every step of the journey.
