I’m going to start with a seemingly random question.Right now, write down the top five reasons why you chose the bank you bank with... and, no, this is not one of those market research surveys.If you don’t use a bank, instead write down the top five reasons you chose your particular car/bike/push-bike.And if you have no transport, then write the reasons why you buy the soap or shampoo you use. (If you don’t use these, well … that might be something to look into.)Go ahead and list them now, just as they come to your head. Then put them aside and we’ll revisit their relevance later.Following on from last week’s article about how pleasure and pain drive us to action … it is important to note that as individuals, some of us will react better to the carrot, whilst others thrive under the threat of the stick.NLP (Neuro-linguistic-programming) identifies this as one of our ‘meta programmes’ which are a series of habitual preferences and patterns we run at a subconscious level. For example: overview thinkers vs detail thinkers, whether we look for sameness or differentness … these are cognitive strategies we have individually programmed ourselves to use. One of these is the preference of towards or away from.Towards @ these people easily set goals around what they want, are ever striving towards their fulfillment, spurred by the reward of achievement, getting the task done as soon as it’s set. They use words like: attain, obtain, get, have, achieve, target …Away from: then there are those that can tell you exactly what they don’t want, their aims are to avoid potential obstacles or difficulties. They often need to have a deadline, or something at stake that they’re going to lose (some threat of pain) before they are really motivated to do it, a reward isn’t enough. They use words like: avoid, get away from, solve, prevent …Neither preference is good or bad, better or worse … in the end each is equally likely to achieve, it’s just what they prefer to get them there. And this preference is on a sliding scale. At the extremes you have folks who are all one or the other, but most of us fall somewhere in between, with a tendency in one direction.Which are you? Can you tell from the descriptions above? Wouldn’t it be good to know what motivates you so you can either make that carrot really juicy to run towards or up the ante on the stick and make the threat of not achieving your goal enough to power you to complete it. And what about the people around you? Your children, your colleagues? Isn’t it helpful to know what is going to be the best motivational style for each individual, either to get that homework done or give your staff members the best incentives?Look back to the answers you wrote to the not-so-random question above. What influenced your choice? Were they the positive attributes of the bank?Towards examples: they have friendly staff; the location is convenient; I like their advertising. Positive statements directly about the bank (or car, or shampoo) or were they comparisons and avoidances of other options?Away from examples: it’s better than the others, it’s the only decent one, the application form at the other was too complicated, beats keeping it under the bed, better interest rate.Look closely at the language you used and compare it to the words listed in the preference descriptions above. Start listening to yourself and how others around you speak and see if you recognise those words and their patterns. Then you can highlight the rewards or the consequences accordingly and start seeing the results.Motivational Tipsn Surround yourself with personal reminders of what you’re aiming for and what that will give you: a picture of the body you’re working hard to achieve, the brochure for that boat you want to buy, a photo of your family smiling, “your name, CEO” pinned to your bedroom door … something that means something to you that will keep your goal front focus.n Ask yourself: how can I make this more FUN? We all want a little fun, want to enjoy ourselves. What can you put in place for whatever your action is, to make it a little more enjoyable? Maybe: do it with a friend, play music, do it in the sunshine, be creative. Even doing your taxes could be more enjoyable if you try.n Tell someone about your goal. In fact, tell lots of people (ignoring anyone who tries to talk you out of it of course). None of us wants to be called a liar so if we say we’re going to do something, if other people are expecting it, there’s that extra incentive to actually get it done!n Go back to your goal and list WHY you want to achieve it. What is important about you attaining this? What will it give you, on a fundamental level? If the reasons for the goal are strong enough, they will provide fuel to the fire to get it done. Find ways of reminding yourself of those reasons in the form of carrots or sticks.To really up the ante on your pleasure and pain associations, tap into your VALUES. We will be looking at them next week. Latch onto these and you will find a motivation that drives you from your core and leads you to create unstoppable action. Step by step @ there’s no end to what you can achieve.Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner. For further information telephone 705-7488 or visit www.juliapittcoaching.com.