Is having motivation important for success? I am of the opinion that finding motivation when it is lacking is essential for success in all areas of life. In this article, I’ll share my number one tip for teens finding motivation by using their DCM (Driving Core Motive), and how I used it with my son and his experience playing on the varsity basketball team. 

As a teen life coach, I work with young and impressionable minds, and many of them lack motivation. When a parent calls or reaches out to me on social media about their teenager lacking motivation, I immediately send them to a Color Code personality assessment. Lacking motivation is usually not the cause of the problem, but a symptom of a lack of clarity, and the Color Code helps to clarify.

Dr. Hartman’s Color Code assessment is designed to provide self-awareness in four primary colors: Red, Blue, Yellow, and White. Providing self-awareness leads to understanding, which resolves many problems by allowing the teen to change their behavior.  This is the tool I utilize to uncover a teen’s Driving Core Motive. In a Red personality, the Driving Core Motive is “power.” Having power is what motivates them to get out of bed in the morning. Reds are the people who love leadership, making extra money through a side hustle, becoming Student Body President, etc. Yellow personalities are motivated by fun. Whites are motivated by peace, and Blues are motivated by intimacy (meaning personal relationships with others). Once I explain to the teen their DCM and how everyone has a personality color and is born with it, I can immediately see light bulbs begin going off in their minds. 

The Color Code then makes finding motivation easy. When you know and understand your DCM, and also what your personality limitations are, finding motivation breaks down to a simple question: “Would you like to add to your strengths or develop an area of limitation?” 

For example, suppose a teen I’m coaching is struggling with making friends, and his Color Code personality type is Red. In that case, I can explain that his DCM may indicate outgoing behavior, making it easy to reach people, but that his Red limitations sometimes inhibit connecting with others, because he might be perceived as arrogant, aggressive, and a know-it-all. 

Once he understands that, we can dive into the Color Code assessment’s 40-page report detailing personality needs, wants, plus a ton more useful personal insights that are incredibly beneficial for anyone’s personal growth. 

So what is the DCM? A person’s DCM is specific to their natural/innate strengths and limitations, not what they learn from the environment or programming. Of course, our environment can play a role in our behavior, but our DCM is born with us and makes us the unique and unforgettable individuals we are. 

Here is a quick story to clarify and showcase the impact of knowing your primary personality color on your motivation and life. 

My son is a Blue personality type and is very hard on himself. He usually feels that other teens and athletes are better than he is. This isn’t true, but it’s how he sees the world. After completing his assessment, we reviewed his personalized report and debriefed and uncovered some of his limitations. Armed with this information, we began shifting his belief about himself as an athlete and focusing on his team-player strengths. 

One strength for Blues is that they value relationships. My son stopped focusing on his lack of playing time and started honing in on the connections and relationships he had built with his teammates.  Blue personality types are intimacy-driven, and my son thrives on connecting and developing quality friendships.

He now enjoys every experience he has participated in and knows his value to the team. 

He then began to get more motivated to practice harder. He pushed his teammates more and became present to help them out and support them, and his coaches noticed this shift in his attitude. 

Fast-forward to my son’s senior year. He is now on one of the best teams in the state. He loves the team and the experience and has a new and positive look on his high school basketball career. 

My son didn’t lack the motivation to be the best player, but he didn’t know what stimulus would create his motivation to work harder and push himself. Understanding his DCM helped him uncover his motivation. 

Teens are experiencing tremendous pressure today, and having a resource that can assist them through the craziness is very beneficial. 

Once a teenager has completed the assessment and reviewed the personalized report, I use the following strategy: 

The 90/10 Rule: 

Invest 90% on your strengths; 10% on your limitations.

For example, my son doesn’t like lifting weights, but weight training helps with his sport. So understanding the 90/10 rule, my son invests 10% of his improvement time toward weight training and 90% toward developing his game in the areas of his strengths. Motivating him is then easy, because I don’t ask him to spend much time on his limitations. I point him in the direction of his strengths. 

The way you shift from being unmotivated is you find strengths or areas that you see are easy for you and invest 90% of your time on that. 

Some expert coaches promote working on your weaknesses, but I don’t agree. If we are forced to spend too much time doing something we don’t like and not using our DCM, it is easy to get unmotivated and bored. 

The 90/10 rule works for my clients, and I know it will help you develop motivation and focus because you no longer will be wasting time in areas that don’t feed your DCM. 

I hope this article has provided you with some newfound insights and a resource to help you become motivated and more self-aware. 

Famous tennis player Billie Jean King said, “I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.”

Self-awareness is one of the most valuable traits a person can develop to become confident and motivated.

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Rahz “The Motivator” Slaughter is a motivational speaker who has spent years helping children and teens improve their mindsets and take charge of their lives. Born with a disability and raised by a single mother who suffered from addiction, Rahz has been labeled countless times and told that he had limitations and that there would be things that he could not do, be, or achieve. Despite these messages, Rahz was born with a growth mindset and set out to create a life of his doing and not what others expected of him.  Today, Rahz Slaughter is a motivational speaker, 3X author, and successful business owner. He is also an athlete, personal trainer, nutritionist, and teen life coach. As a Color Code Interpersonal Skills Trainer and NLP practitioner, Rahz has tools to help people overcome their limits and reach their full potential. Learn more about Rahz at http://www.RahzSlaughter.com.