(Portions of this article were excerpted from an NLP Practitioner Certification class I held in 2002)
We covered in a previous article what a strategy is, and used Decision strategies as not only an example, but a playground. While we use strategies for nearly every significant thing in our lives, motivation strategies have got to be among the most frequently accessed.
What do I mean by that? What makes you take an action? What makes you DO SOMETHING NOW instead of procrastinate? Each of us has within us a motivation strategy, which explains HOW we do get ourselves to do that “something”–pulling it off instead of putting it off. As with other strategies, we organize this one into V-A-K terminology to not only ensure that the strategy utilizes all available modal information, but also so that we can organize it into replicable chunks.
During the Practitioner Training, I elicited a motivation strategy from a participant. Once it was organized as part of the demonstration, It looked like this:
First, I am reminded of a task I must complete. This typically comes in initially as visual input. The next thing I do is assess its importance, which for me is me talking to myself about it. Auditory Digital is the modality. If the task is important, I hear an external voice telling me, “You’d better get this done!” Auditory External, even though it technically comes from within me, I’m imagining an authority figure speaking to me from the OUTSIDE, telling me I need to do it. Then I have a Kinesthetic experience of urgency in my body. Finally, I take the action. So my motivation strategy for an urgent task is VE -> AD -> AE -> K.
One other dimension I should include is whether I am more prone to “Moving-toward” a reward or “Moving-away-from” a consequence. This matters a great deal because if we are working with someone who moves TOWARD an outcome, speaking in terms of consequences is not likely to have as much impact.
Is the strategy above geared more closely to “Moving-toward” or “Moving-away-from?” The latter, right? Now that was just an example. The participant shared the he only uses that strategy when the outcome is urgent and the deadline FEELS near. This doesn’t happen all that often, he said, “as primarily I move toward a reward.”
Between the carrot and the stick, each of us can experience both. But one is the more compelling of the two when facing an initial task. The participant continued, “If the task is laid out in front of me and I learn that there will be a consequence if I DON’T do it, I tend to put it off, as it’s not as interesting as the rewards I could potentially win. If the task is placed before me and a reward is offered, I tend to pounce on it. In a Sales situation, for example, tell me that if I don’t hit my quota and I’ll be fired, and I will shrug and know that I’ll hit it…no particular action at that moment is needed. But if you do the same and offer an incentive—a bonus, for example, I will become very excited, determined to win the bonus, and take action immediately. Many managers have learned this about me…”
Looking at that strategy, and as we’re really talking about initial motivation, how would we change that to make it more effective? Try it on like you would a new suit–explore how those thoughts would likely affect you. What if as I consider a task you must complete, you again recognize it as visual input. The next thing is to assess its importance, which in that participant’s strategy you’re trying on, is talking to yourself about it. Auditory Digital is the modality. If the task is important, you hear an external voice telling you, “Won’t this just feel AMAZING to get this done! And look at the great things that happen once it’s complete!!!” Auditory External, even though it technically comes from inside us, we can imagine an authority figure speaking to me from the OUTSIDE, telling us we must do it. Then you have a Kinesthetic experience of urgency in your body. Finally, you take the action. So the motivation strategy you’re trying on, for an urgent task, is VE -> AD -> AE -> K.
When we use that same “language” or direction with ourselves, we tend to get better results than using a direction with less impact.
We’re now going to do a demonstration in which we elicit someone’s motivation strategy! Who wants to be dissected? Just kidding. We will only dissect your strategy, not YOU. What we’ll do is set the stage for group work. We’ll be breaking into groups, soon—not yet! And we’ll elicit one another’s motivation strategies.
First, I want to share four common styles of strategies identified by Connierae and Steve Andreas which most of us find ineffective. Remember these, as I’m going to ask whether you see any of these in your own strategies at times.
- The Negative Motivator – this person, like my “urgent” motivation strategy above, only takes action when picturing truly dire consequences of inaction.
- The Dictator – this person portrays an inner authority like a dictator, using aggressive, commanding language and a stern, perhaps angry tone. Key words to look for are “must” and “have to”, language that suggests force and authority.
- Imagine Doing it – this person imagines doing the task and feels bad as it’s not pleasurable. Though he could imagine having already completed the task and feeling good about the result, this person focuses on the unpleasantness of doing the task.
- Overwhelm – this person sees the task as a huge amount of work that overwhelms him instead of breaking it into bite-sized, manageable chunks. The result of this is discouragement instead of enthusiasm.
I choose among the volunteers and ask the person to reference a specific point where they had difficulty becoming motivated. Next, I have them identify, by walking through their recalled thought process (while fully associated into the experience) and elicit the VAK components. Next, I ask them to assess their strategy and design a new one. It should still achieve the motivated outcome, though with less stress or pain, and with full respect to ecology. Then I install it via rehearsing it with them, setting it in motion by future pacing it so they can experience this new strategy as ecological and effective, both now and in the future.
Once this is complete, I invite the group to ask questions about what we are about to do—as during the exercise to follow, they will each get to explore this. Our stated goal is that we each will have the opportunity in the class to design and install a more effective motivation strategy. Or if we already are happy with our present strategy, assess whether it can be streamlined or enhanced in any way. After this, we break into small groups and do just that. I then ask whether anyone recognized any of the four ineffective motivation styles I mentioned—The Negative Motivator, The Dictator, Imagine Doing It, or Overwhelm.
Finally, everyone has the opportunity to ask questions about the dynamics overall, the process, ensuring that they feel comfortable doing this for themselves and their friends or family, where asked.
What was that really all about, though? We all have a motivation strategy for everything we do–otherwise, we wouldn’t do it. The question is only about whether that strategy is effective in motivating us, and whether we could refine it, making it more effective and with less discomfort or stress. Rehearsal is an often overlooked tool for implementing a change, or in this case, a refinement. I’ve also seen the disastrous effects of less-than-skilled leaders using impotent motivation tools to drive their employees.
For instance, I worked for a company several years ago and we’d had a disastrous quarter, from a Sales perspective. The sales people were all called to the main office and were in a board room, where the President of North American Sales began screaming threats at each of them. A few of them demonstrated visible fear as they were berated and threatened with termination. Judging by their responses, they may not have been clear by the context exactly what form of termination was in question.
However, something interesting happened. I noticed, and soon after the President noticed that a handful of us were unfazed. He apparently missed what these people had in common, and what differentiated them from the group that was obviously scared. These were “rock stars”, outstanding salespeople who recognized that yes, the industry had been shaken that quarter, that the company had made some questionable investments, but these people loved Sales and were good at it.
“What are you looking at?” he shouted at me as I glanced at the coffee maker in the back of the room.
“The coffee maker,” I said. “I was just thinking about how the pot is full, but only two of these people will get to have any.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
It was a reference to the play Glengarry Glenn Ross, with its famous line, “Coffee is for closers!”
This was a great opportunity to broaden everyone’s understanding of the problem. Sure, there were industry-wide challenges facing both us and our competitors. But it’s possible to find new opportunity in the face of adversity. Though we must be motivated to find it.
For you, or anyone else you must motivate, figure out their strategy. NLP breaks it into the complex-looking sub modalities chain, “VE -> AD -> AE -> K”, but once you get really good at this, that will become second-nature. You won’t even consciously notice those steps anymore as your unconscious processes all the necessary details. And uses them to inspire, to motivate.
Once you know the strategy, you simply adjust its pieces to have more impact. For instance, let’s say an important part of your motivation strategy is hearing someone say, while you visualize the goal, “Wow, that’s going to feel fantastic when you finish that!” What part has the most impact for you? Whose voice is it? If it’s your own, experiment to see whether other people in your life, even from the past, are even more compelling. What would the impact be if it was your boss’ voice? A trusted mentor? A parent? In Mindleading™, I call it the Teacher anchor–but it could be anyone who, if they said something to you, it would immediately compel you to act.
Experiment with the sub modalities of this, then rehearse the full new strategy to install it. If you’d like some help with this, book a session with a skilled NLP Master Practitioner and they can nail it down for you quickly.
And make Motivation so simple, even automatic, that you find yourself doing great things rather than sitting still, achieving instead of freezing with inaction.
This is your life. ENJOY IT.
Copyright © 2025 Chris Gingolph