What Motivates You: the Carrot or the Stick?
Whether you are trying to motivate yourself to save for a down payment for that beautiful new home or whether you are trying to save for that goal you are trying to attain, the best way we can motivate ourselves or others will depend on the type of personal motivation we have or the type of motivation the person we are trying to motivate has. Do we know what that is?
When I learnt about motivational styles years ago, I found out that some people move towards things they want while others move away from the things they do not want.
I remember that growing up one of my brothers would clean his room when dad said, "if you clean your room, we will go to the beach" . He would have that room done as quickly as he could as he was motivated by the carrot, but my other brother would not. My dad would need to say, "if you do not clean your room you will lose your allowance", my other brother was motivated by moving away from what he wanted to avoid, the stick motivation.
We are all different, knowing what motivates us or what motivate those we mentor is useful, as if you are a move towards person, moving towards what you want, writing your goals down will help, having a picture in your mind or literally in front of you will help you as you will start to move towards what you want.
If on the other hand you are a move away person and you need the stick, you will need to remind yourself of what you are trying to avoid , staying in a house that is too small. Take pictures that reminds you of how crowded the play room for the kids is, or how small your closet or office is, remind yourself with a picture, remind yourself why you need to move away from that.
If you are motivating your employees, the people you mentor, your kids, your family find out first what works for them, do not tell them how poor they are doing, even if you are a move away person, if they are a move towards person you will demotivate them by doing that, it will have the opposite effect.
If you are a carrot person nothings gets you going more than to know there is a reward at the end of the tunnel, you need a coach that dangles the carrot in front of you and lets you know what you are doing right you will attain your goals, but you will be completely demotivated by a critical mentor. So mentors and parents remember this.
If you are a stick person or are trying to motivate a stick person, remember move away people are motivated by trying to avoid negative feedback, so remember they need to motivate themselves by reminding themselves of what they want to avoid and do well with a coach that tells them what they are doing wrong.
