Reply #19: How do you go about motivating another person? [View All]

IMO it's not possible in all cases to motivate another person to do something.

I'll use my own example, for social reasons I *hated* school although I was at one point two grades ahead of my cohort, nothing my parents did made me like school one iota better. I have always enjoyed learning but school was just sheer damn misery, I have learned far more over the years outside of school than I ever did in it.

Then I ran into a similar problem with my own child, she didn't have the social problems I did, indeed she was something of a social butterfly, but she simply would not get good grades in all classes no matter what I and her mother tried, threats, bribes, cajoling, none of it worked, just like it didn't work for me thirty years before.

I've seen it among friends kids too, the same parents can have two kids, one is an excellent student and the other, while being just as bright, is anything but a good student.

Some people just don't push well at all and with a lot of folks it starts very early in life.