It seems simplistic, but our mothers were effective in getting us to do things by nurturing our desire to please them and to be praised.

So, for example, they would say something like, “I love the way in which you have cooked the vegetables even better than I taught you.”

This may not necessarily always be absolutely true, but it is great affirmation that opens the door for the mentor to advise on how to cook vegetables even better.

Such praise can be highly motivating for the one praised to want to cook vegetables again, even better next time; and also to eat vegetables.

The cook can become a great promoter of eating vegetables in the home, for she or he wants her or his siblings to acknowledge her or his great cooking.

It could also generate competition among the siblings to either good vegetables better and or to cook something else better.

When a mentor rewards hard work and initiative, in which the mentor’s advice is implemented, it is highly motivating.