Category: Motivation

Are You ‘Toward’ Motivated or ‘Away-From’ Motivated?

 

The headline says it all, doesn’t it? Just by reading it, you’ve probably already
concluded what it’s all about and maybe, just maybe, which one is your most
dominate, yes? Let me explain…

There are 2 types of motivation: TOWARD & AWAY-FROM. Both can be highly
effective in getting you motivated for different reasons at different times.
Not just when it comes to you health, but IN LIFE!

TOWARD MOTIVATION

Being toward motivated will make you feel as through you are being moved or
pulled toward a goal. Being toward motivated about something gives you
that ‘I can’t wait to get there’ kind of feeling.

It’s a positive feeling you may have about an event or it could be a picture
that you have in your mind.

Research proves that toward motivation gets more consistent results over
time than away-from motivation.

A potential problem with being too toward motivated is that a person may
neglect the often necessary (& maybe unpleasant) tasks (work) required to
reach the positive goal.

AWAY-FROM MOTIVATION

A great example of a person who is away-from motivated would be a person
who is wanting shed body fat because they don’t like the way they look in the
mirror. They are being moved forward only because they want to move away
from something else they don’t want. By the way, that something normally
has a negative feeling attached to it!

But, there’s some good news! One of the good things about away-from
motivation is the fact that it can provide a very strong impetus to take action.

There are 3 potential problems with being too away-from motivated:

You may only take action when things get really bad.
There’s more stress associated with the goal and taking action.
Long-term results may suffer once an initial goal is achieved and the original
impetus for changing and staying motivated is gone.

As trainers, we can tell if a client is toward or away-from motivated.

Do you want to know how we know?

Beware, because it’s the language you use.

HOMEWORK: Keep a close eye on what you say to others and (more importantly)
yourself. Try and catch yourself using TOWARD & AWAY-FROM language.