Given that being motivated comes from a deep and almost primaeval need to fulfil basic purposes in life, you might reasonably assume that it is innate and consequently not a matter of learning. Nevertheless, this is not the full story, because it is the basic purposes behind being motivated that are so fundamental to us, not motivation itself. As such, you can teach people to be more motivated than they otherwise would be. It is simply a question of finding what drives one individual to fulfil their basic purposes. Some people do this by discussing their most important desires and working out why these things – and not others – are motivational. Others teach motivational techniques by getting people to make creative choices about goal setting so that they are always rewarding themselves as they make progress.