Where do we see this?
Lets say you have the express desire to work out. We may have many reasons or motivations for working out such as being healthier, looking better, and feeling better. The competing motivations might be a desire to sleep in, a need to get more work done, wanting to spend more time with your family etc. Then there might several sideways motivations for and against working out.
What can we do with this knowledge?
An action occurs when we have sufficient motivation to overcome any ability barriers that might stand in our way. Now that we understand the interplay of Direct, Competing, and Sideways motivations, we can be aware of why the action didn't occur and analyze the competing motivations and see if we can't turn them around (or think about them in a way that now supports the action. Like being to tired to work out can be rephrased to I am always tired because I don't work out). It is also important to realize that competing motivations might be there for a reason. If you aren't going to the gym because you are always tired, you might need to re-evaluate your priorities and clear things out so you can get the proper amount of sleep.
Stay tuned as tomorrow I will cover the concept of willpower.
Best,
Andrew
[email protected]
@andrewzimmbd