People have the great instinctive skill/talent to become easily accustomed to their environments. When someone is put in situations which they may have currently or previously been in they have a tendency to see the situation as something they have already experienced. This, in the case of fear as motivation, will allow the person to disregard the situation as they already know the potential outcome.

Also, a good point to keep in mind is that people can usually see through these types of motivators. They will usually spend more time concentrating on a negative motivator in order to validate it for themselves. This is not the case with positive reinforcement.

Does this help???

If the fear of getting a beating gets you to pick up your room, you are motivated to pick up your room, but it is not a good motivator. You will hate cleaning your room. you do it to avoid the beating. Not for the right reasons – taking care of your belongings and keeping the house clean where others must live, too.

A good motivator would be one that instills the right reasons in you. You see the smile on your mother’s face when you clean up. Your father trusts you to take care of his prized and expensive toys. Your sister does not have to hold her nose walking down the hallway, and she treats you like a person, not an animal.

The fear of making a fool of myself in public when I have to speak to a group of people motivates me to write up my remarks and practice them in front of a mirror!

Hmm…fear seems to motivate me! Don’t know if that’s good or bad???

Keeps me in line. Makes you wonder about religion though. Is that what it is for?