A new year means new goals and resolutions.
If you’re one of many who dread making goals for fear of abandoning them, you are not alone. The good news is – you might just be struggling with motivation.
Following through with your goals is a challenge you must face daily. To stay on the path, it helps to understand what actually motivates you.
There are 2 types of mindsets that may influence the way you chase after goals: promotion and prevention. Learn all about them below.
Promotion: Playing to win
If the possibility of a reward is your main motivation to work hard, then you’re more likely to be promotion-focused. Here are a few characteristics of promotion-minded people:
- Focused on growth and accomplishments
- More comfortable taking risks
- Tend to plan for best-case scenarios
Some examples of promotion-focused money goals include saving up for a vacation, buying a house, or running a successful business. Such people “play to win” and so they set goals to gain something as a result.
Prevention: Playing to not lose
You might be prevention-focused if you prioritize safety and avoid potential problems as much as possible. Here are the signs you may have a prevention mindset:
- Intent on staying safe
- Less likely to take risks to avoid losses
- Prepares for worst-case scenarios
Instead of seeking rewards, prevention-minded people look out for things that might go wrong. It’s their mission to prevent these negative events, hence the name.
Prevention goals could include building an emergency fund, getting insurance, and keeping your money safe.
Which one is best for you?
You probably have multiple goals that fall into either the prevention or promotion category. However, you might identify with one mindset more strongly than the other.
Finding out which mindset influences you most can be the key to staying motivated. When you feel like you’re losing the drive to follow through, simply realigning goals with your mindset might make a difference.
For example, you may find that “preparing for emergencies” is not compelling enough as a goal. A way to reframe this is to “save enough money so you can start investing for growth.”
Getting the right feedback and inspirational messages can also help with motivation. Praises and positive reinforcements may work better for promotion-focused people.
On the other hand, constructive criticisms and cautionary tales may be more effective for prevention-minded individuals.
Your motivational focus also reveals strengths, weaknesses, and preferences that you must consider as you plan your strategy.
When your goals, strategy, and mindset are all aligned, it might be easier for you to stick to your plans from start to finish.
