What makes you want to do what you do when you do it?
That is the mystery of motivation. Motivation is the drive that impels a person to take action. It is an internal need that is satisfied by an external expression.
When you experience something and you want to get some "mo" -that is "mo"-tivation! The truly motivated person wants to take action to either get what he wants, or to avoid what he doesn't want.
There are three ways people can become motivated. The first is the K.I.T.A. method of motivation (K.I.T.A. stands for "kick in the anatomy"). It is based on the fear of punishment. The K.I.T.A. method motivates people to move away from something painful or distasteful. It pushes them into action. An example of K.I.T.A. motivation is when the boss threatens to fire you unless you stop showing up late for work.
The second motivation technique is the 4Ps Principle. It uses praise, prestige, promotion, or paycheck to motivate people. The 4Ps pull people toward something by promising a reward for taking action. An example of the 4Ps Principle: "Bill, you are too good an employee to be late for work all the time. And when you show up on time for an entire month, I am going to give you a promotion and a raise. And I will announce it in the company newsletter!"
The K.I.T.A. and the 4Ps Principle methods of motivation both work, but they are not as effective as the third method. There is no special name for this one. It is just plain ol' self-motivation. It involves finding a personal reason, deep inside yourself, to take action.
Most people go through life being pushed or pulled by outward circumstances. They do what they do in response to what happens to them. Like a billiard ball, they are bouncing off the rails of life or falling into the pockets -all in response to the positive or negative cues of their outward environment!
An effectively motivated person, however, is self-motivated! He or she is not like a wheelbarrow (being pushed) or a wagon (being pulled). Instead, a dynamically motivated person is like an automobile -he is driven by his own power source from within!
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1 comment:
You have captured the essence of motivation really well with this post. It is surprising the number of people who use the KITA form of motivation as their default model and fail to realize why results are not improving.
I like what you are doing here and look forward to more on motivation. What can leaders do to create a positive work environment that doesn't de-motivate people?
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