There is a good reason to change your business mindset for a better future.

“Where is my payoff?” is a part of everyday consumers’ lives.

Dear reader, my newsletter aims to uphold your right to be informed and champion the science of emotion. By meeting people where they are and understanding their stories, motivations, and limitations, we allow amazing impact to happen. Together, we can empower each other through emotional capital – humanity’s most powerful asset – and build the future we aspire to live in, where you are warmly invited.

You are right, it is a legitimate question!

The matter is, it belongs only to the framework of the “Motivation theory.”

We want the client to do something, so we must prepare a payoff.

It has become the golden standard for many business applications, not just motivational articles — seed, three pain points, payoff.

This has also become the norm for other aspects of our lives, known as the “solution-based approach.”

Define the problem, discuss it in three painful points, and offer a “painkiller.” Or carrot and stick, whatever you would prefer.

Stephen Kotler says, ” If you’ve been seduced, coerced, or otherwise pressured into doing something—that’s controlled motivation. It’s a job you have to do.”

If it’s an open agreement, we call it motivation.

If an agreement is sold to you by hidden marketing actions, I call it manipulation.

Edward Deci and Richard Ryan were young psychologists at the University of Rochester in 1977 who were “thoroughly involved” in studying human motivation.

Until they developed the “Self-determination theory,” psychologists defined motivation as “energy necessary for action,” little was known about what gives such energy.

Works of Deci and Ryan made known a type of external motivation, “payoffs,” and “autonomous motivation,” a form of internal motivation.

This intrinsic motivation, when understood, creates a sense of purpose and direction, empowering others to strive for excellence.

It’s important to note that we still have to seed with intrinsic motivation; however, 1-2-3 is not set, so people decide “how” themselves, and there are no external payouts.

This is what we call “Inspiration”.

“Motivation” and “Inspiration” are two different styles.

If we exercise autonomy correctly when we do what we do, it’s because of “interest and enjoyment” and because “it is consistent with our core beliefs and values.”

Both inspiration and motivation are often the driving forces behind extraordinary performance. However, the consequences could be very different.

Every entrepreneur faces a critical decision in our days of multiple crises.

We must address numerous queries regarding sustainability, ethics, and responsible consumption, where unlimited economic growth is done at the expense of our planet’s limited resources. Quick fixes don’t eliminate problems and don’t decrease the number of consumers’ needs. They are insatiable until people transform.

There are essential questions we all need to consider:

• What should be the primary business focus: problems or opportunities?
• Do you aim to inspire customers or merely drive sales?
• How does the prevailing mindset of seeking instant fast fixes benefit customers?
• Do we nurture a needs-based approach or foster a choice-based approach?
• Do we empower customers to seize opportunities?
• Are we ready to offer and lead customers through transformation?

Focusing on opportunities means foreseeing where you could lead your customer base, explaining it to them, and inspiring them to take a curiosity-action toward exploration. It is new for everyone in business!

However, it has been known for ages as “Don’t give them a fish; teach them how to catch the fish.”

The rewards of a consumer-centric, empowering approach are very high.

This allows businesses to become more innovative and creative and stop being fixed on existing problems and their consequences.

Payoff exchanges could be transformed into synergetic actions where both sides empower each other.

Where would your offers be in all of that?

That’s all for today.

We’ll talk again in two weeks.

If these words were helpful to you, please share your thoughts with Emotional Capital Newsletter readers: we are happy to hear from you!

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