Do you find that a stroke of motivation hits you and as soon you start seeing some results you let off the gas? 

Your own motivational strategy impacts both the consistency of your action AND also your results.  In this week’s episode I help define two types of motivation: “away from” versus “toward” motivation.  Listen in to see which one you tend to lean towards and how it may or may NOT be serving you.

Pain can be a strong motivator.

The pain of being100 pounds overweight is strong enough to push you into action.

When you are screaming and yelling at your children and it feels horrible, the pain of continuing to be that mother will drive you into action.

As a business owner, when you so desperately want to grow a business but are paralyzed by taking action, that pain will motivate you to get help from a coach.

All of those are examples of the “stick” driving you into action.  

I call this “away from” motivation because it inspires action so that you go away from the pain towards the thing you want.

And often that is fantastic motivation to go from ZERO to 1.  The problem though is that once you no longer feel that level of pain, you get a little comfortable and find yourself in a place of stagnation and inconsistent action.amanda walker motivation

This is when I will often see women begin to gain weight back, start yelling at their kids again, or not continue to find new prospects in their business.

WHY?

Because they are missing the most important form of motivation: “toward.”

This is the deep intrinsic kind…the kind that helps you move toward the dream and the results you desire.

In this week’s episode I dive deep into the differences of away from vs. towards motivation and which one is MOST important for sustainability.

Away from means:

Moving away from something is painful to help motivate you into action

Towards means:

Moving toward your goals, using intrinsic motivation to get what you want

Struggle with away from is:

  • Scarcity driven
  • Drives inconsistent action
  • As soon as we get out of the pain, we let off the gas

This is why women will be really driven and lose weight just enough to get out of pain and then gain it back.

Or business owners will see their account get low and then take massive action to make money…. then burnout.

The goal is to move towards “toward” motivation:

  • Abundance
  • Less drama in this space
  • Drives consistent action

Our goal as coaches is to help our clients move from “away from” motivation to consistent “towards” motivation.

Give it a try!

Practice:

Can you remember a time when you felt highly motivated?  Lean into that feeling.

Let go of focusing on the “nots”

A great episode to help you understand this a bit more is the Cause and Effect episode which you can listen to HERE.

And in case you want to watch today’s episode, you can see that here:

And in case you want more information on who I am, and why this is something I am passionate about, check it out:

amanda walker business life health coach