Carrot or Stick? What kind of motivation do you prefer

[Besus]

I just take any motavation that comes my way, at the moment i have a juicy carrot that if i get back in shape i can play rugby next season!

But in college there was this one lad who claimed to be the strongest kid in all the land, the fact that he was a little fatty who we found out could only squat 60kg at a bodyweight of nearly 160kg! he would say he didnt care about asthetics because he was squatting such huge weight for his meets. now usually i wouldnt care about it but this lad was different, everything he did annoyed me, he never directly did anything to me but i took it all personally, probably more a character flaw on my behalf! i used this kid as a stick to push me in the gym, every time i felt tired i would think of his boasts and lies and push harder so i knew i was better than him!

it was a shame when we found out he didnt go the gym and could only squat 60kg once as i lost a great source of motavation in him!

[DaveT]

I use both. The carrot is friendly little comps with others on here, plus my own desire to reach the goals I've set for myself. Also I reward myself with a steak after a workout - no workout, then it's fish or chicken.
My stick is slightly strange, but it works for my slightly obsessive-compulsive personality. I plan my training out in 12 week blocks in a spreadsheet, and so if I miss one, it messes up the spreadsheet. Then I have to spend time redoing the spreadsheet. Easier just to do the workout!

[Dada]

Hmm the workout itself is the carrot for me as lifting weight is what I do for fun. Don't need a stick to get motivated to workout but I tend to use one when trying to help others.

In that case the stick would be my being blunt towards them and telling them what to do and why they need to do it (not yelling at them although some people take it that way). Lot of people don't like that approach so I usually don't help people unless they ask for help.

The exception being the forum of course b/c posting something on here is usually either asking for help (either directly or implied), sharing opinions, or discussing something. Also, people are usually a little more thick skinned online than in person.