Transformation Journey: Your Motivation – How you can find true encouragement instead of responding to pressure, build something you believe in and create your life

Research from positive psychology and well‑being science consistently shows that living in alignment with your values, goals, and sense of self — a form of integrity — is strongly associated with greater happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological well‑being. To live a truly meaningful, fulfilled and happy life, it matters that we reflect not only on what we want to achieve or have, but on how we want to experience our life — the quality of our days, how we feel, how we relate, and how our energy flows through life.

In the exploration session you imagined your perfect day and then reflected on what that would mean and which goals would support it. This exercise shows us that goals are not simply targets to reach; they must be meaningful and connected to the life we want to live. Goals that exist only for achievement’s sake — to prove ourselves, to meet expectations, or to check boxes — can feel hollow and may push us into patterns of striving that do not actually deepen our well‑being. In fact, it is often the felt experience of our life — how we want to move, rest, relate, create and contribute — that gives goals their true purpose.

At the same time, there is growing recognition in psychological research that many people pursue goals from a place of pressure rather than connection — driven by a need to feel “good enough,” to avoid failure, or to live up to external standards. Perfectionism and imposter feelings are both on the rise in society, and studies have shown that this pressure to achieve for the sake of achievement is not linked with greater happiness. Instead, it is strongly associated with self‑doubt, stress, fatigue, burnout and lower overall well‑being (Tenhulzen et al., 2023; Pákozdy et al., 2023). In other words, striving to perform perfectly or achieve more and more can create a cycle of anxiety and depletion that moves us away from what truly matters to us.

This is where the idea of integrity becomes vital. Acting with integrity means aligning our actions with our values and goals that are grounded in meaning — not simply chasing external measures of success. Integrity includes being honest with ourselves about what feels important, choosing goals that resonate with our inner life, and allowing our behaviour to be shaped by those priorities. When goals and behaviour are aligned, we reduce internal conflict, strengthen our sense of agency and self‑trust, and create a life that feels more coherent and purposeful.

Multiple strands of research support this. Work on authenticity — living in accordance with one’s true self — has been consistently linked with greater life satisfaction, emotional well‑being, and engagement in meaningful activities. People who act with authenticity report lower stress and a stronger sense of connection between their choices and their inner values (Sutton, 2020). Research grounded in self‑determination theory emphasises that when people pursue goals that are aligned with their intrinsic motivations — goals tied to growth, connection, and personal meaning — they experience greater psychological well‑being than when they pursue goals driven by external pressures or obligations (Ryan & Deci, 2018). Other studies show that when people reflect on and act in ways that express what truly matters to them — rather than what others expect — they experience stronger resiliency, greater self‑regard, and deeper meaning in life (Huta & Waterman, 2014).

In practical terms, this research suggests that the power of integrity lies not just in naming meaningful goals but in acting on them intentionally. It is not enough to have goals; what matters for well‑being is that we pursue goals that reflect our deeper values and lived experience, and that we do so in ways that strengthen rather than deplete us. When we focus on what is truly meaningful and let that guide our short‑ and long‑term goals, we foster well‑being that is not just momentary, but sustainable and deeply rooted in who we are.

References (APA style)
Huta, V., & Waterman, A. S. (2014). Eudaimonia and its distinction from hedonia: Developing a classification and terminology for understanding conceptual and operational definitions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(6), 1425–1456.
Pákozdy, A. et al. (2023). The imposter phenomenon and its relationship with self‑efficacy, perfectionism and happiness in university students. Current Psychology.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Self‑determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press.
Sutton, A. (2020). Living the good life: A meta‑analysis of authenticity, well‑being and engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 153, 109645.
Tenhulzen, K. A., Claridge, A. M., Baker, K., & Carlson, K. (2023). There is no “one right way”: Perfectionism, imposterism, and well‑being in child life training and practice. The Journal of Child Life: Psychosocial Theory and Practice.