Achieving Motivation

This is the fourth and final part of a series of blogs that explores the concepts behind Bags of Taste that contribute to its success
In the previous post, we compared a balloon, filled with enthusiasm, rather than air, to motivation. Barriers take away that enthusiasm, deflating that balloon, until the balloon and your motivation goes flat.
three balloons, one with a pin going towards it and one with repairs

Imagine your motivation was a balloon, and barriers let the enthusiasm out.

Despite everyone having enthusiasm to change their lives for the better, they also encounter barriers that hold them back and deflate their enthusiasm.  This balance between enthusiasm (the size of your balloon) and barriers (how much we deflate it) is really key.

three balloons, one deflated and one with two pins going towards it

Too many barriers can result in your enthusiasm running out – and your motivation disappearing

We’ve learned there are many more barriers facing those in poverty to improving their diets than the rest of the population.  They are economic, psychological, structural and practical.  Each of these helps to deflate the incentive balloon until often there is very little motivation left.

Different people face different barriers in different combinations, meaning one person might lose all motivation at a different point to another person.

Different people experience different barriers; one person for example may have problems with food access; another may live next to Tescos, but not have a pan to cook with. Usually it’s a combination of several. We discussed some of these in our earlier blog in this series. It is only if you can tackle many individuals’ different barriers simultaneously in the same programme, that you will be able to do this at scale, as we do at Bags of Taste.

You can learn more about the barriers facing people in poverty here by watching this video.

What is left when the barriers have deflated your balloon

We can’t remove every barrier.  I may not be able to move you closer to the shops.  But we can change other parts of the equation, so there is still some motivation left.  I could tell you where the cheapest shop is, which bus to take to get there, and explain to you how much you could save if you went there.

Thus we remove part of the barrier (how do I get there?), and fill the balloon with more enthusiasm, making the starting balloon size bigger (look how much money I can save!), there’s still some enthusiasm left in the motivation balloon after realising the shops are not that close.

two large balloons and one small one with repairs. one large one has two pins going towards it

Starting with a bigger balloon, filled with extra incentive, will mean you’re more reslient to barriers and still have motivation left.

This is the key to how Bags of Taste works.   By understanding and tackling all these barriers at once, whilst also upping the enthusiasm, we can ensure that there is still enough motivation for our participants to cook healthy food for themselves at home.

Previous Blog Posts

Why being a Bags of Taste cooking mentor is so satisfying

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Amy has been a Bags of Taste cooking mentor for the last 18 months. Find out more about her experiences and how rewarding she finds it. When I first applied to be a cooking mentor with Bags of Taste in 2021, I was looking for a virtual…

Why what you eat is so important for mental health

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Why what you eat is so important for your mental health
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Cost of living crisis

Read our recent blog from our CEO, Alicia Weston on what we’re doing at Bags of Taste to support people during the cost of living crisis.