In a life with multiple sclerosis, how do you motivate yourself?

I think cold weather affects me every bit as much as hot does. The difference is that instead of turning into a weak puddle, I stiffen into a rock. It doesn’t get that cold where I live, but when we do have a few chilly days in a row, I tend to spend the majority of my time indoors with a good book or a bit of television.

Recently, I found myself watching an episode of a spy thriller in which a character mentioned an acronym, MICE, that was familiar to me. It helps us remember the primary ways to motivate someone: money, ideology, coercion (or compromise), and ego. I was never a spy, but I did occasionally need to motivate people and found myself using one or more of those methods.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve used these techniques on others, including my own children, but given my multiple sclerosis (MS), the person I most have to motivate is me.

MS isn’t a living entity and can’t be talked into anything, of course, so while I can’t bargain with the disease to motivate it, I can motivate myself. You probably use this too, but don’t realize it because you never had a fancy acronym. Bear with me while I attempt to explain each of these MICE motivators and how they can relate to a life with MS.

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Money is a great motivator, but not in the way you might think. I suppose I could try to bribe myself with actual physical currency, but I don’t need to because money comes in many forms when you have MS. These days, energy is my most valuable currency. Even if I’m never sure how much I have at the beginning of each day, just allotting energy to “pay” for what’s important to me is essentially motivating myself with “MS money.” I also use the opposite, rest, as currency. I’m essentially offering a bribe every time I tell myself that I can have a break after I accomplish an important task.

Ideology is a big motivator for me. I try to learn as much as I can about this disease, which is such a large part of my life. Keeping track of new treatments and ongoing research makes me hopeful for myself and all people with MS and its symptoms. I’ve often said that hope is not a course of action. But for those with a chronic disease, hope may feel like all there is. I’m very motivated by hope and the information that creates it.

Coercion or compromise can mean threatening to expose something a person doesn’t want revealed. I’ve used this method before by telling myself that if I don’t move around or make an effort, I’ll be bedridden — or even worse, have to live in a long-term care facility. I don’t use this motivator much anymore, because it seems to have the opposite effect and make me depressed.

The lines between coercion and being motivated by a reward such as currency — or for us, MS money — is blurry. On TV, the agent may coerce someone with the evidence that they took a bribe, and sometimes I do that to myself.

That sounds more sinister than it actually is, so let me explain. Sometimes I tell myself that since I took the offered rest after accomplishing something, I then have energy to do something extra. That’s an example of coercing myself. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it can make the motivated person resentful and even vengeful. I don’t know that I recommend this method.

The last motivator, ego, can be a bit of a double-edged sword as well. My ego is rather large, and appealing to it can encourage me to do something. I can hold up something I’ve done and tell myself that because I pulled that off, a certain aspect of MS shouldn’t be that difficult. The problem arises when MS makes accomplishing something impossible. My ego has a tendency to dissolve into thoughts of failure if I forget to tell myself that with my disease, trying again tomorrow is an option.

Even if MS were capable of caring, it still wouldn’t. That makes the disease impossible to motivate. I do like and need other people to motivate me, but in many ways, I’m my best encourager and motivator. MICE is a tool, and a decent one at that, but admitting when we can’t do something and making peace with it is a motivator, too.

How do you motivate yourself with MS? Please offer your methods in the comments below.

Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.