What Motivates You

  • You strive for things to be perfect, in order, and in place. When you are passionate about something you put all of your effort and time towards it. You want everything around you to be perfect but are mostly hard on yourself. You are very highly critical of the things you do, and become very disappointed in yourself when you make a mistake. You often have a lot on your plate but just want to improve your life and the lives of others. People often follow your lead and you are comfortable in that leadership role. Whatever you do has to be done right and you will do whatever it takes to make sure of it. Others might say you are intense or too serious at times, but you just like to be focused and would rather relax when the work is done.

  • You are driven to help others. You love doing things for others, especially when you are sure they will appreciate it. It’s easy for you to determine the wants and needs of others, making it easy for you to help. Occasionally you are viewed as controlling and overbearing, but it’s just because you want to help. You find satisfaction in putting others before yourself and that sometimes takes a toll when you don’t allow time to focus on yourself. You have a difficult time saying no. You give a lot of yourself and hope that others will see that in respect you for it. You expect others will reciprocate, and help you when you need it.

  • You want to be the best at everything you do. Goals are important, and you work hard to achieve them. Your search for the respect of others by successfully meeting or exceeding expectations. Your mind works quickly. Sometimes you are irritated by others who seem to be working or moving too slowly. Your competitiveness gives you an edge and often leads to you being well-liked. You do well on a team. You like to make a good impression and care about how others view you. When finding passion in a goal, you know exactly what to do to achieve it and stay motivated. You like to stick to things you are good at.

  • You enjoy expressing your emotions and want others to understand and appreciate you for who you are. You consider yourself to be unique and truly genuine. You constantly look for more in life and never stop evaluating and searching for what is missing. You don’t like to be misunderstood. Some folks might mistake you for being sensitive, and dramatic, or say you care too much. In actuality, you are just expressing exactly how you feel. You enjoy getting to know others on a deeper level and form real connections. You are passionate about your feelings.

  • You love being the expert. Before you commit to something you want to know as much as possible. You don’t like being wrong or corrected, which is why when you don’t know something you tend to remain quiet. You stand up for what you know and are happy to argue the point you know to be true. When facts don’t support your idea, you are happy to reconsider your ideas. You thrive on alone time and use that time to reflect on past experiences. You are independent because you don’t like to rely on others. You crave knowledge and information. Overall you view life as pretty simple and straightforward.

  • You are always prepared for the worst. You often envision the worst-case scenarios so you know what to do if/when they occur. You are creative and have a vivid imagination with a somewhat odd sense of humor. You are often unsure of people of authority especially if you find them untrustworthy. You are loyal to those you trust and happy to explore ideas with them. When it comes to new ideas you generally think of what could go wrong before considering potential upsides. You think things through before accepting them at face value. You are not much of a follower because it’s easy for you to pick out reasons to disagree when it comes to new ideas.

  • You enjoy a fast-paced life. You like to create many options for yourself and keep those options open for future plans. You hate feeling bored or trapped and shy away from negative emotions. You don’t like to dwell on things that upset you. You tend to get really excited about things rather quickly, eventually getting bored with them and forgetting about them or dropping them altogether. You often start things that don’t quite get finished. Even then you remain optimistic and see life as a ride that is meant to be enjoyed. When you have several options you have a hard time deciding because you want them all.

  • You like to be in control whenever possible. You want things to be clear and appreciate blunt honesty. You sometimes struggle with the distinction of being in control vs being controlling, but you just like to take charge to keep things going smoothly. You find it frustrating when you feel like someone is being conniving or unfair. It’s difficult for you to be vulnerable with others for fear they will view it as a weakness. However, you still believe we should recognize our shortcomings and do something about them. Sometimes you find it difficult to follow orders from authority because you would rather get it done on your own without being told what to do. You don’t always respect another person of authority upfront but when you do, you are more than willing to follow directions.

  • Peaceful and happy, is how you like things to be. In group settings you like to go with the flow, sometimes not recognizing exactly what you want. You do what you can to avoid conflict and confrontation. Sometimes you even go so far agree with someone even if it goes against what you want or know. You aren’t afraid of being angry at yourself but you don’t like to get angry at other people and especially hate when people are angry at each other. You have a kind heart and know it can easily be taken advantage of. But, when you need to, you know how to stand up for yourself. You are very good at seeing multiple sides of a situation and taking on various perspectives to weigh the pros and cons.

Personality is a collection of thoughts and emotional habits. Like any habit, a pattern of personality can be deeply ingrained and a challenge to change or even acknowledge. Like all habits, change is possible and can even be made easy with increased self-awareness.

These nine core motivations can be used to gain insight into who we are being and when. You might find you identify strongly with one or two of them. You might find you are motivated by all of them at different times and in different relationships.

Core Motivation

Learn more about what motivates you and when. Coaching packages can be tailored to your motivation style and desired outcome. With packages starting at $149 a month, there has never been a better time to invest in yourself.