Motivation

KNOWLEDGE EXPECTED OF: QAFP® Professionals

Highest Knowledge Level: Understanding

Knowledge Levels and Associated Verbs


Awareness
The state of being aware that something exists / to have familiarity with a particular activity or subject
Understanding
To comprehend the general relationship of particulars / to have an expertise with how something works
Application
Ability to put information to use / to use knowledge for relevant, practical purposes
Evaluation
To judge or conclude by utilizing data / a systematic determination of something’s worth or significance
Define
To state exactly the meaning of
Identify
To be aware of / to recognize and correctly name / to locate an appropriate resource
Explain
To make clear the meaning of / to describe something in more detail or reveal relevant facts or ideas related to it
Determine
To ascertain / to come to a decision, such as by investigation or reasoning
Compare
To note the similarities and differences between two or more things
Estimate
To determine an approximate value for
Calculate
To find the value using mathematics
Convert
To change from one form or purpose to another
Evaluate
To reach a conclusion or make a through careful study
Interpret
To give the meaning of / to construe or understand / to translate orally

Hold cursor over or click on each term to read its definition.

  • Identify when motivation to engage in financial planning may be greatest, such as:
    • The loss of a spouse/partner
    • Retirement
    • Divorce/separation
    • The loss of a parent
    • The birth of a child
    • An insurance settlement
    • An inheritance
    • A lottery windfall
    • A change in career
    • Business succession
  • Identify motivations to seek financial advice, such as:
    • Desire to reduce complexity
    • Desire to enact change
    • Desire to save time
    • Desire to receive encouragement
    • Desire to help make better trade-offs
  • Identify the conditions needed for change to occur.
    • An individual perceives a need to change
    • An individual possesses motivation to change
    • An individual perceives that they have the ability to change
  • Identify behaviour changes to which adherence is most likely, such as:
    • Single behaviour
    • Requires a short-term commitment
    • Relieves immediate pain
    • Implementation is relatively easy and simple
    • Accompanied by high degree of support/supervision
  • Identify behaviour changes to which adherence is least likely, such as:
    • Requires broader lifestyle changes
    • Requires a long-term commitment
    • Focuses on prevention
    • Implementation is relatively painful, complicated, and visibly different
    • Relies heavily on willpower
  • Identify the types of behaviour that may signal resistance to change, such as:
    • Agreement, but failure to act
    • Ambivalence
    • Arguing
    • Closed body language
    • Denying
    • Defensiveness
    • Interrupting
    • Ignoring
    • Negating
    • Reluctance
    • Resignation
    • Rationalizing
    • Rebellion
  • Explain reasons why resistance to change may occur, such as:
    • Do not perceive there is a need to change
    • Motivation to maintain status quo is stronger than motivation to change
    • Ambivalence to change
  • Identify factors that impact motivation to change, such as:
    • Emotions / Feelings
    • Knowledge / Understanding
    • Risk / Uncertainty
    • Perceived value
    • Cost (dollar, time, commitment, emotion)
  • Identify motivational focuses that may occur.
    • Promotion focus (goal achievement)
    • Prevention focus (objective avoidance)
  • Identify language that may motivate a promotion-focused individual, such as:
    • Optimistic
    • Benefits
    • Lost opportunity
  • Identify language that may motivate a prevention-focused individual, such as:
    • Pessimistic
    • Risk avoidance
  • Identify procrastination or avoidance actions that may signal non-readiness to change, such as:
    • Failure to seek advice
    • Refusing engagement
    • Missing appointments
    • Failing to return communications (i.e., phone calls, emails, mailings)
    • Failing to complete paperwork
    • Short attention span
    • Closed language
    • Short responses to questions
    • Superficial responses to questions
    • Failure to disclose information
    • Omission of information
  • Identify behaviours that may inhibit motivation to change, such as:
    • Lecturing
    • Admonishing
    • Scolding
    • Setting deadlines
    • Giving orders
    • Blaming
    • Warning or threatening
    • Persuading with logic
    • Moralizing or preaching
    • Judging or criticizing
    • Praising
    • Shaming
    • Victimizing or sympathizing
  • Identify behaviours that may support a motivation to change†, such as:
    • Encourage a forward-looking orientation
    • Establish pre-commitment strategies
    • Establish structure for change
  • Explain how a financial planner may support in developing a forward-looking orientation, such as:
    • Facilitating the development of goals linked to emotions (i.e., what money can buy or achieve rather than only the value of the money)
    • Asking to imagine or picture the attainment of future goals
    • Use images to clarify ideas
  • Explain how a financial planner may establish pre-commitment strategies†, such as:
    • Change peer group and social rewards
    • Decrease immediate payoff of negative action
    • Increase immediate losses of negative action
    • Increase future payoff of positive action
    • Decrease future losses of positive action
    • Increase the number of options associated with negative action
    • Decrease the number of options associated with positive action
  • Identify behaviours that may increase the losses felt by an individual, such as:
    • Paying for current consumption with cash versus cheque or credit card
    • Contributing/investing in illiquid assets
      • Property
      • Retirement plans requiring taxes to be paid on withdrawal
      • Investments with pre-maturity penalties
      • Savings accounts earmarked for a specific goal
  • Identify behaviours that may reduce the losses felt by an individual, such as:
    • Pre-paying for services
    • Paying oneself first
    • Pre-authorized savings plans
    • Committing to saving increases in income
    • Committing to saving portion of tax refund
    • Saving coins or change (i.e., rounding up purchases and contributing rounded-up amounts to savings account)
  • Explain motivational methods that a financial planner may use in responding to an individual who is resistant to change.
    • Simple reflection (repeat the individual’s words back to them, with slight rephrasing)
    • Amplified reflection (repeat the individual’s words back to them, exaggerating their point)
    • Double-sided reflection (repeat both sides of the individual’s resistance)
    • Agreement with a twist (reframe the individual’s words, siding with what they’re saying)
    • Shifting focus away from what is impeding progress (reduce resistance by reflecting understanding)
    • Reframing (repeat the individual’s resistance while reframing in the positive)
    • Come Alongside (reflect the individual’s resistance back to them, while aligning with their reason for resisting
    • Emphasizing personal choice and control (reflect the individual’s ability to control their choices)
    • Siding with the individual’s argument against changing (repeat the individual’s words back to them, agreeing with their resistance)
  • Explain how a financial planner may establish structure for change, including:
    • Create a financial plan
    • Provide step-by-step guidance
    • Provide support
    • Create social proof
  • Define motivational interviewing.
  • Explain the purpose of motivational interviewing.
  • Define empathy
  • Identify ways to express empathy, such as:
    • Acknowledge the individual
    • Summarize and reflect the individual’s attitudes/motivations
    • Invite discussion towards change
  • Define self-efficacy.
  • Identify that the most important predictor of sustainable behaviour change is self-efficacy.
  • Identify ways that a financial planner may support self-efficacy in an individual, such as:
    • Offer encouragement
    • Offer motivation
    • Help remove obstacles
    • Provide on-going contact/follow-up
    • Review progress
    • Provide social comparisons
    • Relieve pain or negative effects of change
  • Identify ways that a financial planner may help an individual sustain change, including:
    • Have individual identify triggers that may cause them to revert to previous behaviour
    • Have individual identify methods to avoid and/or mitigate triggers that may cause them to revert to previous behaviour
    • Engage in regular contact
    • Provide encouragement
    • Facilitate removal of obstacles

KNOWLEDGE EXPECTED OF: CFP® Professionals

Highest Knowledge Level: Understanding

Knowledge Levels and Associated Verbs


Awareness
The state of being aware that something exists / to have familiarity with a particular activity or subject
Understanding
To comprehend the general relationship of particulars / to have an expertise with how something works
Application
Ability to put information to use / to use knowledge for relevant, practical purposes
Evaluation
To judge or conclude by utilizing data / a systematic determination of something’s worth or significance
Define
To state exactly the meaning of
Identify
To be aware of / to recognize and correctly name / to locate an appropriate resource
Explain
To make clear the meaning of / to describe something in more detail or reveal relevant facts or ideas related to it
Determine
To ascertain / to come to a decision, such as by investigation or reasoning
Compare
To note the similarities and differences between two or more things
Estimate
To determine an approximate value for
Calculate
To find the value using mathematics
Convert
To change from one form or purpose to another
Evaluate
To reach a conclusion or make a through careful study
Interpret
To give the meaning of / to construe or understand / to translate orally

Hold cursor over or click on each term to read its definition.

  • Identify when motivation to engage in financial planning may be greatest, such as:
    • The loss of a spouse/partner
    • Retirement
    • Divorce/separation
    • The loss of a parent
    • The birth of a child
    • An insurance settlement
    • An inheritance
    • A lottery windfall
    • A change in career
    • Business succession
  • Identify motivations to seek financial advice, such as:
    • Desire to reduce complexity
    • Desire to enact change
    • Desire to save time
    • Desire to receive encouragement
    • Desire to help make better trade-offs
  • Identify the conditions needed for change to occur.
    • An individual perceives a need to change
    • An individual possesses motivation to change
    • An individual perceives that they have the ability to change
  • Identify behaviour changes to which adherence is most likely, such as:
    • Single behaviour
    • Requires a short-term commitment
    • Relieves immediate pain
    • Implementation is relatively easy and simple
    • Accompanied by high degree of support/supervision
  • Identify behaviour changes to which adherence is least likely, such as:
    • Requires broader lifestyle changes
    • Requires a long-term commitment
    • Focuses on prevention
    • Implementation is relatively painful, complicated, and visibly different
    • Relies heavily on willpower
  • Identify the types of behaviour that may signal resistance to change, such as:
    • Agreement, but failure to act
    • Ambivalence
    • Arguing
    • Closed body language
    • Denying
    • Defensiveness
    • Interrupting
    • Ignoring
    • Negating
    • Reluctance
    • Resignation
    • Rationalizing
    • Rebellion
  • Explain reasons why resistance to change may occur, such as:
    • Do not perceive there is a need to change
    • Motivation to maintain status quo is stronger than motivation to change
    • Ambivalence to change
  • Identify factors that impact motivation to change, such as:
    • Emotions / Feelings
    • Knowledge / Understanding
    • Risk / Uncertainty
    • Perceived value
    • Cost (dollar, time, commitment, emotion)
  • Identify motivational focuses that may occur.
    • Promotion focus (goal achievement)
    • Prevention focus (objective avoidance)
  • Identify language that may motivate a promotion-focused individual, such as:
    • Optimistic
    • Benefits
    • Lost opportunity
  • Identify language that may motivate a prevention-focused individual, such as:
    • Pessimistic
    • Risk avoidance
  • Identify procrastination or avoidance actions that may signal non-readiness to change, such as:
    • Failure to seek advice
    • Refusing engagement
    • Missing appointments
    • Failing to return communications (i.e., phone calls, emails, mailings)
    • Failing to complete paperwork
    • Short attention span
    • Closed language
    • Short responses to questions
    • Superficial responses to questions
    • Failure to disclose information
    • Omission of information
  • Identify behaviours that may inhibit motivation to change, such as:
    • Lecturing
    • Admonishing
    • Scolding
    • Setting deadlines
    • Giving orders
    • Blaming
    • Warning or threatening
    • Persuading with logic
    • Moralizing or preaching
    • Judging or criticizing
    • Praising
    • Shaming
    • Victimizing or sympathizing
  • Identify behaviours that may support a motivation to change†, such as:
    • Encourage a forward-looking orientation
    • Establish pre-commitment strategies
    • Establish structure for change
  • Explain how a financial planner may support in developing a forward-looking orientation, such as:
    • Facilitating the development of goals linked to emotions (i.e., what money can buy or achieve rather than only the value of the money)
    • Asking to imagine or picture the attainment of future goals
    • Use images to clarify ideas
  • Explain how a financial planner may establish pre-commitment strategies†, such as:
    • Change peer group and social rewards
    • Decrease immediate payoff of negative action
    • Increase immediate losses of negative action
    • Increase future payoff of positive action
    • Decrease future losses of positive action
    • Increase the number of options associated with negative action
    • Decrease the number of options associated with positive action
  • Identify behaviours that may increase the losses felt by an individual, such as:
    • Paying for current consumption with cash versus cheque or credit card
    • Contributing/investing in illiquid assets
      • Property
      • Retirement plans requiring taxes to be paid on withdrawal
      • Investments with pre-maturity penalties
      • Savings accounts earmarked for a specific goal
  • Identify behaviours that may reduce the losses felt by an individual, such as:
    • Pre-paying for services
    • Paying oneself first
    • Pre-authorized savings plans
    • Committing to saving increases in income
    • Committing to saving portion of tax refund
    • Saving coins or change (i.e., rounding up purchases and contributing rounded-up amounts to savings account)
  • Explain motivational methods that a financial planner may use in responding to an individual who is resistant to change.
    • Simple reflection (repeat the individual’s words back to them, with slight rephrasing)
    • Amplified reflection (repeat the individual’s words back to them, exaggerating their point)
    • Double-sided reflection (repeat both sides of the individual’s resistance)
    • Agreement with a twist (reframe the individual’s words, siding with what they’re saying)
    • Shifting focus away from what is impeding progress (reduce resistance by reflecting understanding)
    • Reframing (repeat the individual’s resistance while reframing in the positive)
    • Come Alongside (reflect the individual’s resistance back to them, while aligning with their reason for resisting
    • Emphasizing personal choice and control (reflect the individual’s ability to control their choices)
    • Siding with the individual’s argument against changing (repeat the individual’s words back to them, agreeing with their resistance)
  • Explain how a financial planner may establish structure for change, including:
    • Create a financial plan
    • Provide step-by-step guidance
    • Provide support
    • Create social proof
  • Define motivational interviewing.
  • Explain the purpose of motivational interviewing.
  • Define empathy
  • Identify ways to express empathy, such as:
    • Acknowledge the individual
    • Summarize and reflect the individual’s attitudes/motivations
    • Invite discussion towards change
  • Define self-efficacy.
  • Identify that the most important predictor of sustainable behaviour change is self-efficacy.
  • Identify ways that a financial planner may support self-efficacy in an individual, such as:
    • Offer encouragement
    • Offer motivation
    • Help remove obstacles
    • Provide on-going contact/follow-up
    • Review progress
    • Provide social comparisons
    • Relieve pain or negative effects of change
  • Identify ways that a financial planner may help an individual sustain change, including:
    • Have individual identify triggers that may cause them to revert to previous behaviour
    • Have individual identify methods to avoid and/or mitigate triggers that may cause them to revert to previous behaviour
    • Engage in regular contact
    • Provide encouragement
    • Facilitate removal of obstacles
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