How Life and Business Coaches Help You Get Motivated

The history of motivation theory only dates back about a hundred years ago, as far as Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung. The first theories revolved around the hedonistic principle that what drives most people to act in a particular way is the pursuit of pleasure and the fear of pain. However, this truism was more of an observation about human nature than a principle that could scientifically predict what a given individual or a group of people would do in specific circumstances.

Various academics over the years have come with theories explaining motivation. However, it has to be recognized that all the academic work of the past hundred years has been sporadic in its usefulness within a life and business context. Many of the principles are either just plain common sense or simply not predictive enough to be sure-fire winners when it comes to developing the structure of a motivation program for yourself. There is no magic, scientific formula for motivating people that will ring true in every conceivable situation.

That said, there are some general principles to bear in mind. Extrinsic rewards in the form of payment or financial rewards can help and, for a while, may increase individual effort and improve satisfaction. Intrinsic non-financial rewards correlated to responsibility, achievement and the job usually has a more lasting motivational effect.

On the whole, most people will be highly motivated if they can control the means of attaining their goals. Also, individuals are motivated by having specific goals to work for, and they perform better when they are aiming at difficult goals that they have accepted, and when they receive feedback on performance. This emphasizes the importance of life and business coaching as a motivator when it is based on agreed goals that are demanding but attainable and feedback on attainments in relation to those goals.

By applying these principles you can improve the possibility of success. Experimentation and creativity will determine what works and what does not with those who work for you or who

work with you.

Not every program will require all of these principles, so unquestioning adherence to a formula will not guarantee success. A life and business coach will help you acquire a ‘performance improvement mindset’ to guide you.