What is Motivation?

I recently completed my first quarter of PA school and I can say with confidence that I found my career match. In just 12 weeks I gained more knowledge than I thought was humanly possible. Although much of my time was spent learning about the science of clinical practice, I am now able to reflect on some of the other less cerebral aspects of my PA career. 

Like most aspiring clinicians, I am inspired to be a PA because I want to improve the lives of others. I used to believe this skill would be perfected by integrating my knowledge and ability to motivate others. However I have gained a new perspective on motivation after learning about the servant leadership model introduced by Robert Greenleaf in the 1950s. A recent interview with acclaimed author Daniel Pink on the Center for Servant Leadership website reveals that motivation is “not something that one person does to another,” rather “motivation is something people do for themselves.” 

How then does one instill motivation in another? I surmise that there are endless answers to this question but servant leadership provides the framework. To practice servant leadership one must understand the contraposition—hierarchical leadership. A hierarchal leader feels that he has earned a job title prestigious enough to coerce others. Conversely, a servant leader does not control others but rather collaborates with others to improve outcomes. 

A clinician that leads through service would work as a teammate with his fellow providers and listen to his patients with empathy and curiosity to discover what the patient knows. Pink describes this concept as “information parity” whereby the clinician and his/her patient are equals. In other words, the clinician does not know more than the patient. This may appear counterintuitive but the patient has already relegated him/herself as the novice with respect to medicine, disease, and clinical care; that's why they are seeking the service of a professional. And the minute a clinician attempts to influence the patient with hubris instead of humility, then the relationship is lost. Only through discovering a patient’s own understanding and convictions to make healthy change can the clinician and patient work together to motivate. 

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This concept is not exclusive to health care either. We are all sellers of something whether it be health care, commodities, education, etc. I encourage the readers to check out the podcast with Daniel Pink on the Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership website for more information and some interesting examples of how humans are always “selling” something; the success lies in how we sell it. 

The Anti-Nourishment

I still have memories as a kid when my parents would advise me to watch my sugar intake. I always thought it was to prevent tooth decay or hyperactivity. Who knew they were actually protecting me from eating too much poison? According to University of California, San Francisco endocrinologist Robert Lustig—interviewed in a recent National Geographic (2013) article—“sugar is a poison by itself when consumed in high doses” (p. 96). Unfortunately we cannot avoid this affinity for sugar—the average American consumes roughly 77 pounds of sugar per year (Cohen, 2013). This is a staggering statistic with even more tragic consequences. In the last 30 years, the incidence of diabetes has skyrocketed from 153 million to 347 million (Cohen, 2013). Nephrologist Richard Johnson from the University of Colorado believes that sugar can be pinpointed as the culprit for several health disorders including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity (Cohen, 2013). The human body, although quite resilient, is not meant to utilize sugar in high doses. In the case of diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, the bloodstream is shocked with overwhelming amounts of sugar that ends up destroying the cellular receptors—better known as insulin receptors—needed for its utilization.

So should you avoid sugar altogether? When making this decision consider the long-term effects of too much sugar. Indulging in sweet treats and sinful desserts is only human. The problem lies in those sugar-filled foods and beverages that have invaded the day-to-day American diet. Sugar has the potency to evoke an addictive response by triggering the brain’s pleasure center in a similar—yet less intense—manner as drugs like cocaine and heroine (Cohen, 2013). The average American that consumes 77 pounds of sugar annually is consuming about 22 teaspoons per day (Cohen, 2013), and the key is for sugar seekers to wean off of sugar. The first, and most important, step is to check food labels. One can of cola packs a whopping 9.3 teaspoons of sugar. An eight-ounce serving of fruit on the bottom yogurt—including the highly touted Greek variety—has about 6.7 teaspoons of sugar.

If all this information doesn’t make a nutritional impact, consider the lasting effects of too much sugar on energy levels. A sedentary lifestyle is just as debilitating to health as 22 teaspoons of sugar per day. And the combination of the two is the recipe for a perfect storm. According to Johnson, although sugar can provide a jolt of energy, the eminent crash that follows depletes energy levels and deters physical activity (Cohen, 2013). Sugar is a serious matter that won’t fix itself. The State of New York already tried to cut down on the sizes of sugar-sweetened beverages but this took away from certain peoples’ personal freedom. People are going to have the make their own decision about poisoning their bodies over time or nourishing their bodies for sustained health. 

For more information on Sugar Love: A Not So Sweet Story, I encourage you to read the article at NationalGeographic.com.

Primary source:

Cohen, R. (2013). Sugar Love: A Not So Sweet Story. National Geographic, 224(2), 82-97. 

I'm Happy for You

My new life ahead is beginning to sink in as I solidified a new home in Philadelphia this past week. Philadelphia’s population of 1.55 million was rather overwhelming, especially when compared to the measly 430,000 inhabitants of my hometown of Colorado Springs. I would be lying if I said that moving to the fifth biggest city in the United States wasn’t scary. However, I’ve realized that a support system is invaluable regardless of how intimidating my surroundings might be. People have always been entering my life even if just for an instant, but the truly special ones seem to nourish my soul.

Personal relationships keep me grounded and help me realize the power of human connection. I have accomplished a lot for myself, but it would not be nearly as special if not for the joy others experience because of my accomplishments. In the last several months I have heard so many people express how happy they are for me. This is a heartwarming and powerful gesture that I want to acknowledge because it promotes the righteousness of humanity. Life can be crazy, it can be hectic, and it can even be cynical at times, but a human’s ability to be happy for another person is truly remarkable.

I look forward to all the new people I will meet in Philadelphia and all those people I will be happy for. This will come quickly for some and patiently for others but the reciprocal nature of happiness will always ring true.