Towards and away motivations are little scripts we run in our brain, throughout the day, actually from the moment we wake up. Towards motivation, is being motivated by goals, or achievement. Away motivation, is being motivated to avoid problems.

Ask yourself, how do you get out of bed in the morning? Your alarm (if you use one), is nothing but a tool to wake you up. But how do you get yourself out of bed? Are you using towards motivation, and say to yourself “it is going to be a glorious day”, or do your visualize a “job done.” For both of which you need to get out of bed to achieve it.

Or are you someone whom gets out of bed to due an away motivation. Do you say to yourself: “My boss will be unhappy if I show up for work late.” Or do you visualize yourself getting in to trouble, or your kids making a mess out of the kitchen making their own breakfast.

Toward and away motivation is what we call in NLP one of the metaprograms we run. Which one we choose depends on our emotional state, or the situation. However, as you become more aware of your toward and away motivation, you find that you use both, but one more then others. It is a guiding pattern you are most used to using. If lucky, they are also the most effective for you to use. But you may want to try out a different hat, if you are away motivated and have a hard time getting out of bed, why not try a towards motivation?

More on metaprograms and towards or away motivation soon.

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