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Andreas and Faulkner (1999:57) say motivation works in two directions: there
IS motivation by what you want to move away from (which may be unpleasant
experiences, threats, etc). This is called away from motivation. This is more directed
towards identifying and solving problems. There is also toward motivation where one is
motivated by thinking of pleasurable events that lie ahead. This is goal-directed and
more beneficial. NLP calls these two elements ofmotivation Motivation Direction. The
authors say we all use both directions to some degree, but some ofus specialise in one
direction ofmotivation more than the other in widely different situations.
Toward motivation can blind people about the problems they may run into,
which Andreas and Faulkner (1998) call the "pedal-to-the-metal kind of reality"
resulting in people going through the "school of hard knocks" before they realise the
importance of foreseeing and avoiding difficulties. People who are away from
motivated may become too terrified to try anything. However, the same people may
become very successful, like Dr Martin Zweig, the very rich stock forecaster who
tolerates minimum losses. However, Andreas and Faulkner caution as follows about
away from motivated people. Firstly, because these people are driven to action in order
to move away from discomfort, they become less motivated when the problem gets
farther away from them and become remotivated as the threat resurfaces. This process
then becomes cyclical. These people also concentrate so much on moving away from
discomfort that they don't really take care of where they are going to end up. What
matters to them is what they don't want. Andreas and Faulkner (1998:61) call this
looking-over- the- shoulder behaviour "poverty consciousness"
These people also have to be triggered by a lot ofstress and pain before they are
motivated to act. This could affect their health so they need to learn to react while the
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