Motivation is a set or reasons for engaging in a particular human behavior. There are some conditions that are to be met in order for you to be able to motivate someone the correct way. So what is the motivating force, the stimulus, or the kind of influence we need to have in order to motivate people?

NLP has developed a way to understand and notice habitual patterns when people communicate. The more you enter the person's world view, the more you're able to understand how they are being motivated and of course the easier you can adjust your language to match their specific patterns.

Here are 2 specific patterns that people use to motivate themselves to engage in a particular behavior. When you want to motivate someone, notice these 3 patterns and use your language to match their world view.

Motivation trait 1: The level. Ask yourself the following question: "Are they proactive or reactive?" A proactive person takes initiative and responsibility. They are usually good at going out and getting the job done. A reactive person will wait usually until the situation is right or they are waiting for others to initiate. According to the type of person you need to motivate, use words like "go for it; do it; jump in, get it done" for a proactive person and words like "wait, analyze, consider, might, could, think about" for a reactive person.

Motivation trait 2: The direction. Ask yourself "Does this person want to reach an outcome or a goal because they think they will gain something of value for them or because it will help them stay as far away as possible from a problem?" When you have determine that the person you want to motivate wants to achieve a goal for the satisfaction, happiness, freedom or other benefits it will give them, use words like "achieve, attain, obtain, get". If the person in front of you want to achieve goals to avoid pain or stay away from a problem he has, use words like "avoid, away from, exclude, get rid of".

In a given situation, you might be proactive and achieve a goal with all your strength. In another particular context, you might wait for others to initiate. You might even avoid taking responsibility for a specific job. These patterns are not trans-contextual. They are context specific. Find people motivation traits and use the correct language that will influence a person with integrity.