The most common approach employed to motivate a person is by way of carrot-and-stick.  A reward is given when the person performs accordingly and achieve the objective.  On the other hand, punishment is executed when the person does not perform accordingly and does not achieve the objective.

Motivation by reward can be very effective - as long as that reward is needed or desired. As soon as that reward is not needed, or does not matter anymore, the motivation stops.  When I was young, I was motivated by the reward of one cent for every housefly that I killed.  When I was in school, I was motivated by the reward of $10 for every distinction that I obtained.  Now, such an one-time payment as reward for efforts extended over a period of time may not motivate me much, except when it is a very big amount.  Instead, what will motivate me is the many rewards over extended period of many years for an one-time effort.

Similarly, motivation by punishment can also be very effective as long as that fear of punishment exists. The moment that fear is gone, the motivation will be gone too.  When I was young, the fear of being kept at home was effective enough for me to behave.  Now, being kept at home is considered as blessing instead of punishment.  All my working life, the fear of losing my job kept me tow the line.  Now, such fear is not there anymore because I do have other options.

We have therefore seen that such motivation by external factors may therefore work only in the short terms and are not very effective or sustainable when circumstances change.

If this is the approach we used to motivate our children, subordinates or even our peers, we must have felt very frustrated when the results are not as desired.  We therefore need to search for better ways of motivating ourselves, our children and our colleagues and subordinates.

Motivation Approach that Works

What type of motivation is both effective and long lasting?  We must have ask this question countless number of times.

It is said that only self-motivation fits the bills since it is based on internal desire and not dependent on any external factors.

For example, if you were an internally-motivated teacher, you would be just as motivated even if the school administration were to impose a restriction on when you can go for holidays, or when the students do not perform well in a major examination, or when you cannot afford the SUV that you would like have to transport your family around.

The ebook Motivate Your Way to Success provides the thoughts for this article.