The Summit of Success

Motivation can be a tricky thing. Whether it’s with a friend, an employee, or a family member—a personal or a business relationship—it can be difficult to find the balance between making them do something and failing to inspire them to do it at all. Yet it does not have to be difficult. The “Past, Present, Future” model is a simple and effective verbal tool that can be used to motivate others to mutual benefit. Often people think that they are using this model, when in fact they are not including all three elements.

The basic structure is this: Start by mentioning the Past, or the way things used to be. Then move on to the Present—the status quo. The last element is the Future, which is how the status quo can be improved upon even further.

That, of course, is very general, so let’s look at some more specific examples.

1. Past:

Again, the Past is the way things used to be, as they relate to the specific project that needs to be accomplished, or something this person has already done. It is usually something that has been improved upon, or can be improved upon in some way.

Example: You’re a fitness trainer, trying to encourage a new client to expand their workout and get into shape. The Past part would be, “Before we started, you weren’t running at all.”

It is important that any negative feedback when using this model is expressed positively. In other words, do not start with a personal attack. Instead of saying, “You need to do better,” tell them that they are already doing better, but can be even better. The past should be differentiated from the present.

But what if you just met someone? In this case, you’ll want to start with an icebreaker: something that you can relate to them about. Ask a few questions and get to know them a little—that connection is very important. Then you can move forward by using this common goal as the Past, which brought you both here to this point, where you stand at the Present. Or, you can use the Past as a question in connection with the Present. For example, when teaching a first time client boxing, you could ask, “Have you ever boxed before?” and then move forward to simple tasks like just trying on the gloves to “see how they feel.”

2. Present:

The Present, or the status quo, is used to express something that has changed from the Past, or what this person is doing now. Continuing with the same scenario:

Example: “Now you are running a mile once a week.”

In other words, the status quo is an improvement upon the Past, and a step in the right direction toward an overall goal. This puts the situation in a positive light, and positive feedback is a better motivator than negativity.

How do you make sure you’ve included the Present? Check the verb to make sure it’s in the present tense. Don’t skip this part!

This is also the time to possibly ask questions and gauge their confidence level about their own abilities.

Example: “Now that you are running a mile once a week, are you feeling stronger? In better shape? Do you feel up to more?”

This is not a court of law—feel free to ask leading questions! By involving them in the process, you solidify it. This is an opportunity for them to rise to the occasion and prove to you how much they already know. Chances are, if you ask them point blank if they feel they are ready, they’ll say yes—and then they’ll feel obliged to own up to it.

3. Future:

The Future part is what you want to motivate them to accomplish—the thing that needs to get done.

Example: “Great! Now start running a mile twice a week.”

Avoid phrases such as, “Would you like to…” or “How about….” Don’t give them the opportunity to say no. Also avoid disclaimers like “I think you should….” Keep it direct and to the point—maximizing your motivational power.

“Stepping” Into the Future

The purpose of Past Present Future (let’s call it PPF from now on) is to get from where you started up to an end goal—like climbing a mountain from base to summit. You can’t just jump to the top—you have to take it one step at a time.

Think of some easy steps to climb. What do these steps look like? Generally, they’re low and wide, with a broad platform. Difficult steps to climb are steep and narrow, like you might find in medieval European construction. You want to keep the steps easy enough so that they don’t give up—but of course, you also want to keep them substantial enough so that you both feel like they are getting somewhere.

In the PPF model, the Present is the flat you are currently standing on. From there you can see down to the step you just came from (the Past) and look up to the next step you are going to take (the Future).

When working with a client, you want to keep the difficulty of their next step comparable to the step they just took. Then they can see how far they’ve come, and know they’re capable of going that much further.

It is important to make sure that your future is not looking too far ahead. You don’t want to say, “Okay, so in two years, you can start running marathons.” Such far-off and (currently) unrealistic goals can be overwhelming and demoralizing. Stick to what can be accomplished in a reasonable time frame (generally, less than a matter of months). Even if you know it’s possible, they might not, so make sure it’s something they can believe.

BAD example; You’ve been with us a few weeks and you’ve lost five pounds. Now you’re pretty comfortable with our program. So in the next six months I want you to lose 60 pounds.

Also keep the size of the project to something manageable—break it down if you have to. If this is your first session with them and you start talking about plans for them to have their own fitness show by the end of the week, they’re going to think you’re crazy or just throw up their hands at how hard your goals are. Parents have a tendency to do this to their kids—a preteen boy has been playing football for a year, and his dad starts talking about how he’s going to rake in those college scholarships.

On the other hand, if you ask for five hours of effort, they’ll often put in a lot more, after getting caught up in the completion of the project beyond the bare minimum. The most important thing is to get the ball rolling. But a longer Past makes it possible for you to give a longer Future. Once they’ve climbed 20 steps, they can look ahead 20 more and know that that distance is possible, because they’ve done it. A long PPF can last you for a while, as long as you’re always moving in the right direction.

One thing to keep in mind is that the farther you go, and the closer you get to the summit of your goals, the more difficult the steps are going to get. Someone who is 100lbs overweight and starts eating breakfast—any kind of breakfast—will lose weight. Someone who is 20lbs overweight, however, has to work harder to shed the same amount. Another example is running the 50-meter dash. Going from 22 to 15 seconds is relatively easy for an overweight person. But for someone who is in better shape, to get from 9.3 to 9.2 seconds is a lot more difficult.

It is also possible to have more than one Future, and to build upon the progress that is being made—“If such-and-such happens, then such-and-such can also happen.”

Example: “If you start running twice a week on your own, then we can spend our training time on more intense activities.”

The Future can also be delayed, until after the initial step is taken.

Example: “Can you run two miles now?” And then afterward—“You just ran two miles; let’s make this your weekly routine.”

It is important to note that many people who think that they use this tool are often in fact only using two of the three elements.

Example: “Great. You ran a mile. Now run two miles.”

This lacks the motivational part, the sense of progress already made. It must be a conscious effort to use all three parts of the “Past, Present, Future” model.

Make sure that there is always a positive direction for the future, and that the client is aware of it—not just of the next task on the list. They need to have something to work for. Eventually you may find that they get so in tune with this process that they will start making their own PPF’s, based on their experience with their own capabilities and their own desire to reach the end goal. The idea is that they will continue to meet these small goals, and in the end eventually achieve something of which they might not have initially believed themselves capable.

Popularity: 4% [?]

| The Sandwich Effect >> | Tags :business tools, motivation