We recently asked our LinkedIn community a simple question:
What helps people actually make lasting changes?
The top answer? Personal motivation.
It makes sense. Whether someone wants to move more, eat differently, manage stress, improve their finances, get better sleep or take a more active role in their health, change often begins with a personal reason for wanting something to be different.
But starting a change and sustaining it are two very different things.
Most of us have experienced the burst of motivation that comes with setting a new goal. We buy the running shoes. Download the app. Make the meal plan. Set the alarm. Then life happens.
Schedules get busy. Stress increases. Progress feels slower than expected, and old routines become easier than new ones.
That’s not necessarily a failure of willpower. Lasting behavior change is more complex than simply wanting something badly enough.
Research into behavior change suggests that motivation matters, but so do our goals, environment, relationships, routines and ability to navigate setbacks. In fact, the National Institute on Aging notes that what makes behavior change difficult for one person may be completely different from what makes it difficult for another. Our workplace, home life and surrounding environment can all make maintaining a new behavior easier or harder.
So if motivation starts the process, what helps change stick?
Motivation Gives Change a Reason
Personal motivation deserves its first-place finish in our poll.
When a goal connects to something that genuinely matters to us, we’re more likely to invest effort in it. NIH guidance on maintaining healthy habits similarly recommends making goals personal: when a goal reflects someone’s current needs and interests rather than simply responding to an outside voice, motivation to maintain the habit can be stronger.
That’s an important distinction.
Compare:
“I should exercise more.”
with:
“I want enough energy to play outside with my kids after work.”
Or:
“I need to manage my blood pressure.”
with:
“I want to take care of my health so I can be there for the people who depend on me.”
The behavior may be similar, but the why is personal.
The CDC recommends identifying that “why” when building a healthy habit and connecting it to what will be different in your life if you’re successful.
Turn Motivation Into a Goal You Can Actually Do
Big goals can be inspiring. They can also be overwhelming.
“Get healthy.”
“Reduce stress.”
“Save more money.”
“Exercise regularly.”
These are worthwhile aspirations, but they don’t tell us what to do at 7:00 tomorrow morning.
A sustainable change becomes easier to act on when it’s translated into a specific, realistic behavior. Instead of “exercise more,” the next step might be taking a 15-minute walk after lunch three days this week. Instead of “manage stress better,” it could be setting aside five minutes to decompress at the end of the workday.
Small steps aren’t insignificant. They give us opportunities to practice a behavior, experience progress and build confidence.
That’s why Sterling health coaches use SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound — to help participants turn their larger goals into practical next steps. Rather than prescribing what someone should do, coaches work alongside participants to identify goals that reflect what matters to them, where they are today and what feels realistic.
And when life gets in the way, the goal can evolve. Coaches can help participants recognize progress, work through barriers and adjust their approach rather than viewing a setback as failure.
Because lasting change rarely follows a perfectly straight line.
Expect the Plan to Meet Real Life
A missed workout doesn’t erase the workouts that came before it.
A stressful week doesn’t mean a new habit has failed.
And one choice that doesn’t align with a goal doesn’t require waiting until Monday, next month or January 1 to begin again.
Successful behavior change requires room for real life.
Researchers often describe health behavior change as a process rather than a single decision. That perspective can help replace an all-or-nothing mindset with a more useful question:
What is my next step?
Sometimes progress means moving forward. Other times, it means adjusting the plan.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s developing behaviors that can survive busy weeks, unexpected changes and occasional setbacks.
Make the Healthy Choice Easier to Make
Motivation exists within an environment.
Imagine someone who wants to walk more during the workday but has back-to-back meetings from morning through late afternoon.
Or someone trying to prepare nutritious meals while working an unpredictable schedule.
Or an employee who wants to manage stress but feels unable to step away from work, even briefly.
Their motivation may be genuine. Their environment may still be working against them.
NIH behavior-change guidance recommends changing surroundings so healthier choices become easier choices, while research on behavior change recognizes context and environmental cues as important influences on habits.
Sometimes a small environmental change can remove friction:
- Putting walking shoes somewhere visible.
- Blocking a lunch break on the calendar.
- Preparing healthy snacks before the workweek begins.
- Turning off unnecessary notifications during focus time.
- Automating a transfer into savings.
- Keeping medication somewhere connected to an established daily routine.
The easier a behavior is to repeat, the less it has to depend on a fresh burst of motivation every time.
And this is one of the places where employers have an important role to play.
Support Makes Change Less Solitary
Healthy change may be personal, but it doesn’t always have to happen alone.
Encouragement from a friend, coworker, family member, health professional or coach can provide accountability, perspective and support when motivation fluctuates.
Social connection itself is associated with important health benefits. The CDC notes that supportive relationships can help people cope with stressful challenges and that people with healthy relationships are more likely to make choices that support better mental and physical health.
Support can take many forms.
For one person, it might mean a coworker joining them for a lunchtime walk.
For another, it might be a health coach helping turn a broad goal into manageable next steps.
Someone else may benefit from a group challenge, educational resource, digital tool or simply knowing that someone will check in on their progress.
The right type of support depends on the person.
And that’s the point.
Lasting Change Is Personal
There is no universal formula for changing a behavior because there is no universal person.
One employee may be ready to make a significant change today.
Another may still be deciding whether change feels possible.
One person may thrive with accountability. Another values independence.
Someone may have all the motivation in the world but face barriers related to time, finances, caregiving responsibilities, stress, work schedules or health.
That’s why effective employee wellbeing shouldn’t assume that everyone needs the same resource, follows the same journey or defines progress in the same way.
A recent review of decades of behavior-change research describes change as involving three broad challenges: building motivation, following through and forming durable habits.
That framework helps explain why motivation is so important AND why it isn’t the whole story.
Motivation can get us started.
Realistic goals give us direction.
Support helps us navigate challenges.
Our environment can make action easier.
And repetition helps a new behavior become part of everyday life.
What Does This Mean for Employee Wellbeing?
Employers can’t manufacture someone’s personal motivation.
And they shouldn’t try to dictate what wellbeing should look like for every employee.
What organizations can do is create conditions where employees have more opportunities to act on what matters to them.
That means moving beyond simply offering a collection of wellness resources.
It means asking:
Are resources relevant to the people we’re trying to reach?
Can employees access support when they need it?
Do people have different ways to engage based on their needs and preferences?
Does the workplace culture reinforce wellbeing — or unintentionally make healthy choices harder?
Are we using data to understand people better, or simply to measure participation?
The most effective employee wellbeing strategies recognize that people are unique and whole.
Physical health matters. So do financial confidence, meaningful work, relationships, emotional health and a sense of purpose.
A challenge in one area can influence another. And the change that matters most to an employee may not be the change an organization would have chosen for them.
At Sterling Wellness, this is central to how we think about employee wellbeing.
Technology and data can help identify opportunities, personalize resources and measure progress. But information alone doesn’t create change.
People do.
The Takeaway: Motivation Starts Change. Support Helps It Last.
Our LinkedIn community may have selected personal motivation as the most important factor in lasting change — and they may be onto something.
Change needs a reason.
But motivation doesn’t operate alone.
Lasting change is more likely when people can connect that motivation to realistic actions, supportive relationships and environments that make healthier choices easier to repeat.
For employers, that creates an important opportunity.
Instead of asking only, “How do we get employees to participate in our wellness program?”
Perhaps the better question is:
“How can we create an environment where people feel supported in making the changes that matter to them?”
That’s a very different approach to employee wellbeing.
And it can lead to a very different experience.
Ready to create an employee wellbeing experience that meets people where they are? Connect with Sterling Wellness.
