Metaprogram: Direction of Motivation - Carrot or Stick
Motivation Type towards and away from
What moves a person to act? In which direction does the person move? Do they move towards goals or away from problems that need to be solved or prevented?
People motivate themselves in two different ways: They move towards something, i.e., they seek something they want to achieve (towards) or they avoid something, i.e., they do something to prevent something unpleasant from happening (away from).
Seeking
People who move towards something stay focused on their goal. Their thinking is determined by the goals they want to achieve. They are motivated to get or achieve something. Since they mainly focus on goals they want to achieve, they are usually good at handling priorities. They also draw energy and enthusiasm from their goals. People with a strong towards pattern often find it difficult to recognize or notice problems when something should be avoided. In extreme cases, they may appear naive to others because they do not consider possible obstacles.
Avoiding
These people primarily act to avoid unpleasant things and to get rid of unpleasant things. They usually have difficulty focusing on a goal and implementing priorities appropriately. These people are very easily upset by negative situations. They react most strongly to threats.
Values
Values represent the things we want to move towards or away from. They are what motivate us the most. Values tell us where to invest our time and energy. To motivate someone, it is very important to know their values.
Classifying Questions
- What do you want?
- What do you wish for in your new job?
- What is most important to you about your house?
- What do you pay the most attention to when buying a car?
- What are you most interested in in interpersonal relationships?
- What is important to you in your profession?
- What is important to you in your love relationship?
(General pattern: What do you want from X? or "What should x do for you?")
Recognize and Identify
Seeking People who motivate themselves through seeking prefer to talk about what they want, what they have planned for the future, what they want to achieve, etc.
Avoiding People who motivate themselves through avoiding prefer to talk about things they don't want, how they can best avoid certain situations, or how they can change existing unpleasant situations.
Statistical Distribution
Seeking 40%, Seeking and Avoiding 20%, Avoiding 40%
| Seeking / towards something / towards | Avoiding / away from something / away from |
|---|---|
| Language Patterns get, achieve, include, win, receive, enable, etc. |
avoid, let go, reject, exclude, stay out of, not get involved, be on the safe side, safety. |
| Sentence Structure talks about what will be gained and achieved Inclusion Says what they want, names goals | mentions situations to be avoided, or problems to be solved Exclusion of unwanted situations and things Problems |
| Body Language points to things, nods head, gestures of inclusion | Gestures of exclusion, shaking head, arms express that something should be avoided or eliminated |
Examples
- towards something: "I would be promoted and personally satisfied."
- primarily towards something: "I would be promoted, personally satisfied, earn more, and not be on the road so much."
- equally towards something and away from something: "I would be personally satisfied and not have to be on the road so much."
- primarily away from something: "I would no longer have these routine tasks and would not be separated from my family so often. Additionally, I would be promoted."
- away from something: "I would get rid of this boring work and all these appointments and not have a boss constantly looking over my shoulder."
Seeking
I am interested in a bank that is truly customer-oriented. I want a job where I can express my creativity and that is well-paid. I want an elegant and comfortable car with reasonable fuel consumption.
Avoiding
I hate having to wait a long time at the bank until it's my turn and having to deal with my bank over every little thing. I absolutely do not want a job where my boss is constantly looking over my shoulder. What I hate most about a car is unreliability and frequent repairs.
