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 NLP
Article 6 - Understanding Motivation
Meta-programs are the contentless strategies or processes by which we
run our lives. We may be aware of the results of our
meta-programs, but they are unconsciously run and maintained.
If we understand our meta-programs, we can understand and manipulate
what motivates us.
An example of a motivation pattern is the well-known “away
from/toward” pattern.
Away
from/Toward
Case 1
- Madeleine was a sales manager of a team of 8. Times were
tough and the team was struggling, so Madeleine decided to
“motivate” the team by offering bonuses for higher
sales.
2 members of Madeleine’s team actually got higher
sales. 2 were unchanged, and 4 actually got worse!
What happened?
The answer to this puzzle is easy once you understand that each of us
is motivated away from pain and toward pleasure. However, we
are motivated in different proportions of “toward”
and “away” and individuals have a
“critical point” along a continuum which is their
prime motivating point. The 2 members who improved were
almost entirely “toward” motivated, meaning that
they were easily inspired by reward. The 2 who were unchanged
actually needed to have a little “pain” built
in. Without that, their motivation
“recipe” wasn’t quite right.
The 4 who got worse would possibly have improved if no bonus were
offered, but instead the consequences of failure were made very clear!
Case 2
- Peter really wanted to eat more healthfully. He
had been successfully treating food compulsions and addictions and now
had a genuine desire to eat more fruit. He especially enjoyed
icy cold watermelon! His partner noticed a huge section of
watermelon in the refrigerator and said, quite disdainfully
“Who do you think is going to eat that! What a
waste of money!” Peter found he now
couldn’t eat the watermelon.
Peter is almost entirely “toward”
motivated. Put a punishment or criticism in Peter’s
way and he will “balk”. He
doesn’t do it deliberately and is upset that he
can’t simply “ignore” what is for him a
negative motivation.
How does this impact on someone who wants to become more
heathly? Well there are negatives and positives (pain or
reward) attached to most things. There will be negatives and
positives around staying as we are, and negatives and positives around
moving to a healthier way of life.
If you are
Toward Motivated
If you are motivated almost entirely “toward” then
you need to eliminate all the negatives around both your goal and the
status quo, but also remove any positives around missing out on your
goal. In this way you are left only with positives, and only
regarding a healthy lifestyle. That is a “critical
recipe” for you, and provided you treat food compulsions etc,
you are likely to move automatically toward a healthier lifestyle, and
to stay there.
If you are
Away From Motivated
If you are motivated almost entire “away from” then
you need to really build up and intensify the negatives around being
unhealthy and make sure you eliminate any positives around remaining
unhealthy. Don’t dwell on how great life will be
when you’re healthy, just focus on the pain of being
overweight or unfit. There is a problem here for you once you
reach “optimum health” because you may lose your
awareness of the pain of overweight or unfitness which was such a
powerful motivator for you. You might like to keep a few
“fat photos” around to remind you!
If you are a
Mixture of Away and Toward
In this case you need to have at least some negatives still running
associated with being overweight or unfit, as well as positives
associated with being slim. You should ensure that all
positives for overweight, and all negatives for being slim, are
thoroughly eliminated. You might like to keep a
“fat photo” around, but probably you should stay
off the scales while you’re going through the
process. Use clothing sizes as an indicator instead, and a
bit of daydreaming about the benefits of good health will probably be
quite helpful.
An Automatic,
Psycho-cybernetic Propulsion System!
Once you’ve set up your motivation recipe just right for you,
with the proper mix of away and toward factors, you need to provide
yourself with the driving force to ensure the system works
automatically to propel you in the direction you wish. This
is always an internal state, because behaviour is definitely state
based. Who do you know who has a similar away from/toward
motivation as you? What do you imagine is their internal
state most of the time? Can you use your NLP tools to take on
and utilise that internal state yourself?
About
the
Author: Christine
Sutherland is the
founder of The Lifeworks Group Pty Ltd.
She is a behavioural therapist, clinical
researcher, and
internationally-published author of a range of reference texts for
health
professionals, corporate managers, and the general public.
You
can contact Christine on christine@lifeworks-group.com.au.
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