Nigel 
November 6th,2009
Donkeys are likely to move towards a carrot and away from a stick.
Think back through some of the times someone has tried to motivate you.
Did they focus your attention on something good to move towards,or did they warn you of something bad to move away from?
At the moment I’m moderately depressed. I motivate myself to write by reminding myself I’ll feel somewhat better once I get started,and be continuing to develop my skills as a writer. Usually that works.
Recently I wanted to buy large quantities of chocolate and ice cream but focussed on healthier options by reminding myself I want to lose weight and be healthy,and that junk food may worsen depression in the long term. Doesn’t always work,but did this week.
Teachers often use the offer of approval (a ‘carrot’) and the warning of disapproval (a ‘stick’,to continue the riding a donkey analogy) to try to motivate their students.
Usually motivation towards something we want is far more powerful than motivation to avoid something. I remember a fellow student when I was at school in the 60s who decided not to attend a two-hour Saturday detention. I guess the attraction of a chilled Saturday now was greater than the fear of being severely caned on Monday. It might even have been so if he’d known that on the Monday he’d not only be caned but also given another detention for the following Saturday.
That throws up another crucial factor:how soon is the payoff? When I was young and in a hurry driving across country I very nearly caused a major accident overtaking in the wrong place. This made the possibility of serious injury or death so close it completely overpowered my desire to drive fast and get home soon. For the guy at my school ‘now’was much closer than ‘next Monday’,although I’m sure he felt differently on his way to school after the weekend.
We’ll pick these strands up soon when we examine how to set goals that are effective.
This article is #7 in the effective goal-setting series. The first in the series is here.
To tell me this is the sort of article you like please click the Thank You button just below.
