There are many levels of motivation, some more effective than others and some depend on your personality, but knowing what motivates you may propel you to achieve your goals. So are you motivated by fear or does the desire to succeed motivate you?

Some people are incredibly ambitious, would eat their own, and will do anything it takes to become number one. I’m sure a psychologist would determine that there’s a underlying fear of acceptance or punishment for not winning, but these types of people have the eye on the prize that seems to continue moving forward. One one goal is achieved, the target moves forward to the next level. It’s a frustrating mindset because there may never be a sense of achievement when you’re chasing a moving target.

Particularly where there are already signs of failure, the fear of not achieving tends to be a stronger motivator than the idea of succeeding. The thought of losing money is generally a stronger motivator than the idea of earning money. The thought of becoming overweight is more motivating than the idea of becoming fit, and even less motivating is the idea of remaining fit.

It’s an interesting introspective that may be able to help push you to not only achieve more, but to go after achieving a long-term goal with everything you got. If fear is a stronger motivator for you, use that to your advantage in order to keep your focus and achieve your goal. It’s interesting that as some success is achieved, you may find it harder to press on and strive to achieve more. But when there is little or no success, and the fear of failure or a negative outcome is still present, people tend to put extraordinary effort into reaching success.

What do you do to motivate yourself and remain focused?