Individuals are more motivated to avoid failure than they are motivated to achieve success. Put another way, most people aren't motivated to finish in first place as much as they're motivated to not finish in last place. Are you looking to achieve success or to avoid failure? There are those who are motivated to succeed ("Success-Seekers") and then there are those who are motivated to avoid failure ("Failure-Evaders") with a few distinct differences between them. Failure. Success-Seekers embr.