Self-Determination Theory Of Self Determination

The theory that best applies to my behavior change, is the self determination theory. The self determination theory looks at motivation and personality and combines aspects of behavioral self regulation as well as personality development (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It takes into account the psychological needs of the person, and also looks at a combination of these factors in order to determine the type of motivation a person has. According to Ryan and Deci, there are three needs that need to be met for a person to feel a sense of wellbeing, growth and development (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Those needs are: a need for autonomy, a need for competence and a need for relatedness. I felt that the self determination theory best applied to my behavior change because in order for me to change my sleeping habits, I first had to identify what my motivation was and why I was making the change. I also had to make sure that the three psychological needs were met with my behavior change or the change would be unlikely to happen. The three psychological needs were met during my behavior change. The first psychological need is autonomy; autonomy means that the person has to personally understand the importance of the behavior change as well as accept the change (Ryan, Patrick, Deci & Williams, 2008). My autonomy needs were met with my behavior change because I started
Up until this year I would be used to sleeping in until about 8:30am on average and going to bed between 1:00am and 2:00am, giving me enough rest for the next day. While I was able to wake up consistently at the same time every morning, I would be extremely tired in the morning because my body was adjusting to my new sleep pattern. Once I made it past the first two weeks I was able to get used to the amount of rest I was getting to a point where my body would naturally wake up on its own around 7:05am most