I have often wondered what on earth made my children do what they did. But they are all grown up now and have careers and children and do adult things. When they were little they were often a bit of a mystery. I did try to work it out. I thought ‘well this one keeps taking his bike apart, he must like practical things’. Then I had one who drifted and day dreamed, I guessed he would meander through life and his older brother was diligent and followed his Dad’s footsteps. That’s the boys. Now my daughter is a different kettle of fish altogether. She was always totally driven, head girl, great grades, sporty, you know the type. She’s just become a Consultant Anaesthetist, she always said she would.
Even with the benefit of hindsight I would be pushed to fully understand what kept them going, what made them tick. I can tell from results a bit about what motivates them now but I do wish I knew more about what was going on when they were little.
That’s why I am so very interested in Motivational Maps for Children. What I found fascinating was that when Bevis (or rather Jules, his wife) carried out the exercise on one of their children he was surprised at the results. For those of us lucky enough to work with Bevis we can quickly see that he is intuitive and applies his many skills on ‘working us out’, yet, he missed some key components of his son’s motivation. He found them by using Motivational Mapping, and by applying the exercise developed especially for children. It is so powerful once you have found out more about what motivates someone, just imagine how great that would be if you could do that for your children. Once you know you can really play to their strengths. By doing that you will be able to give them so much more help and encouragement.
Having said all that, your motivation isn’t fixed for all time. Its not like doing a psychometric test, discovering your personality type and that’s it for all time. What motivates us may well (and does) change over time. Working on the basis that we only have today to deal with, how great would it be if you knew a bit more about how your children were motivated right now; you would have so much more bargaining power! That all too frequent question ‘why on earth did you do that?’ might be asked fewer times!
If you could do with a bit of help working out why that little bundle of (sometimes misplaced) energy does what he or she does, do consider Motivational Maps for Children. Of course, as far as the child is concerned it involves little more than answering a few questions – but for you it could really make a difference and of course, ultimately for them. Get in touch with Bevis and find out more. I’m off to see some of my 8 grandchildren – I can feel a plan coming!
