First of all, they may be taught in school that working hard can earn them money, but they might not be taught how to keep that money handy – and they could be misled into believing that hard work can and should be rewarded by spending magnificently on big, noisy things. This can be true especially for teenagers, who face the pressure of their fellow teens when they want to dress well in school, join other teens in their hangouts, and spend their money – actually, your money – in getting things that they want.

You may have a hard time convincing teens to start saving their money, but there are actually ways that you can motivate them to start their own saving. Here are a few ways for you to begin.

- Set a good example. In other words, show, don’t tell. If you keep on telling your kids to save, but you don’t save money yourself and constantly spend it on luxury items, then you don’t only send the wrong signal to your children, you also encourage them to do their own spending. Of course, you are licensed to spend your hard-earned cash on things that you need, but make up for your spending in other areas, say in having a set amount of money to set aside each month for your bank account, or investing in stocks and bonds.

- Don’t stop at the example: get your kids their own bank account. Although this may be counterintuitive, it can actually force your kids to save. Put some money into the account to start it, but only enough to do so; let your kids find ways to make their bank accounts grow. Encourage them to take part time jobs, such as mowing your neighbors’ lawns, babysitting, or even writing short articles for websites. There are many ways that they can earn money, and this will not only motivate them to save, it will actually show them the value of a job.

- And don’t stop at the bank! If you can, open insurance accounts for your teens and make them pay a portion of the premiums. Moreover, make your teens invest in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, or anything that will allow their money to grow. Encourage them to read more about how the stock market works. This way, you can empower them to make their own money later, and give them a chance to start getting money early. And since you are not giving them any money and they are making it themselves, they will find ways to keep themselves out of trouble on their own, without your interference.

- Have rewards ready for good savings, say a hundred dollars for every five hundred that your teen saves. Avoid rewarding them, however, for good grades, as they may work in school for monetary rewards – think, if you kept them in this mindset, what would happen when they get to college?

Give rewards for jobs, not grades, and your kids will be in school to learn. School, after all, is another set of motivational rules altogether.

Motivating people is certainly not easy, given that a person’s ability to be motivated is correlated with a person’s personality. When you start working with a group of people, there will be as many different quirks, personalities, and idiosyncrasies as there are people in that group, and you may need to juggle many different duties. In striving to please every single person, you may end up pleasing no one. So how can you work with diverse personalities and still be able to motivate people? Here are a few tips that you can use.

- Avoid trying to show everyone that you’re meeting their individual needs. Although this may appear counterintuitive, by appearing to be a rabid people pleaser, you can end up looking like an idiot who can survive only on the approval of others. Have you ever been annoyed when you saw someone trying to stoop down to the level of everybody else? Then think what you would look like if you were a leader and you had to do that – and everyone had to see it.

- Keep this in mind: you cannot please everybody. This is related to the previous statement, and it should also help you understand this one: no matter how hard you try, you can never make something turn out the way you want it, and you can never get a perfect end product.

This also means that you need to keep on plodding on: do not dwell on your mistakes, and learn from them instead. You cannot move forward without letting go of the past, so instead of wasting your time thinking and mulling over what you did wrong on that report, or what you said wrong during that meeting, or what you could have done right during your day, just keep on moving along.

- Don’t be afraid to show some anger and emotion. You’re human. You can’t smile all the time (and look ridiculous), be happy all the time (and look even more ridiculous), or laugh all the time (and look insane). If you’re mad at your team, be firm; but don’t be afraid to show them that they’ve done something wrong and you’re disappointed in their work. Be true to yourself and you can see that your team will be true to you – just don’t overdo it.

- Prepare rewards for your team members. Don’t stop at simple key chains or shirts, as though you were acting as a mouthpiece for a company or corporation. Promise a treat at a nearby restaurant if you all make a quota or get the job done. This way, you can all celebrate together, and you effectively show your team that this is a job for all of you, not just for them working under your orders.