On May 2nd and 3rd I posted articles about developing one’s resilience, the first describing J.K. Rowling’s amazing resilience story and the second showing readers how to identify their twelve resilience qualities. Today I am going to provide information on how to identify your three unconscious motives, knowledge of which ties in nicely with maximizing the positive impact you can create through use of your resilience strengths.
What follows are descriptions of three motives that are indicators of what energizes you. Read each descriptor that explains the need inherent in the motive and rank them from one (absolutely the highest motivation/need) to two and then three (absolutely the lowest of the three motivations/needs). Please take the time to decide which answer is first, second, and last. Look at all phases of your life, the personal, professional, familial, etc. This takes reflection which is why setting the exercise aside and revisiting it later in the day or on a future day might be helpful if you are currently pressed for time.
Achievement – the need to surpass a standard of excellence set by oneself or others. _____
Affiliation – the need to develop and protect close personal relationships. _____
Influence – the need to have a strong impact on others. _____
From the book Human Motivation by David McClelland, PhD.
When someone is highly motivated by one or more of these energizers, they often get up in the morning and are thinking:
“What can I do today to win, improve on what I have done previously?”ACHIEVEMENT.
“What can I do to improve my relationship with one or more important people in my life?” AFFILIATION.
“What action can I take to have a strong impact on my work team, my family, a particular person, my community, or the world?” INFLUENCE.
These energizers drive behavior in a very powerful way which is why understanding how strong they are might help you understand what actions you have taken in the past or would be motivated and energized to take now in order to have a positive impact. For example, my high Influence motivation is a central reason I have written three books about having positive impact and why I had spent my career helping others to be impactful leaders and individuals.
I hope you have found these three posts to be of interest.