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Here you'll find my infrequent musings and reflections on all things that impact our beliefs and potential.

What's your motivation?

9 March 2022

I’ve been thinking about motivation recently having had too many conversations to count, with my daughter, about homework. She was pushing to stay up later if she did her maths homework as soon as she came home from school.

A clear example of extrinsic motivation if ever there was. When you do something for a reward or to avoid punishment, that’s your extrinsic motivators.

Intrinsic motivation on the other hand, is when the actual activity is rewarding of itself. So if my delightful little human decided to do her maths homework simply because she loves figuring out fractions and the challenges they pose to her learning, that’s an intrinsic motivator at play. She doesn’t need any external rewards or punishments to do the homework, she does it for the love of it. Because the reward is internal to her – fractions make her feel good inside (they definitely don't – but this is simply to illustrate my point!).

Consider these examples:

  • Lots of people work for the money (extrinsic), not because they love their job (intrinsic).
  • A child does their chores because they want to receive a pocket money or to avoid not being allowed out to play (extrinsic).
  • You start a business because the challenge excites you (intrinsic), or you hate the thought of running a business, but the potential financial reward keeps you going (extrinsic).
  • You love spending time with your partner (intrinsic), or maybe you’re with your partner for the security and companionship (extrinsic).
  • You stay with your partner for love (intrinsic), or maybe you stay because the consequences of leaving would be too difficult (extrinsic).
  • You struggle to get anything done without deadlines (extrinsic), or maybe you love the feeling accomplishment as you tick off each item of work and get things done as soon as possible (intrinsic).

We all have intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.

But because intrinsic motivation relates directly about how you honestly feel about something, intrinsic motivation is much better at creating our long-term happiness.

To develop more intrinsic motivation in your day-to-day life, these tips will help:

  • 1. Make a list of the things you love to do. Whenever you need to do something, consider the most enjoyable way to accomplish it. When you can find something you enjoy, it will be hard to stop yourself from doing it.
  • 2. Learn how to reward yourself without using an external reward system. This could be something as simple as looking yourself in the mirror after you’ve smashed out a HIIT session and telling yourself how good you did. As opposed to telling yourself when you get through the next 20 mins you’ll have a chocolate bar to celebrate.
  • 3. Understand WHY you are doing something. Even the smallest of tasks can be linked to a greater purpose. Playing piano scales might seem mundane, but if you believe they are an integral part of learning to play the piano, they become a lot more meaningful.

I never used to understand why the mega-rich carried on working. And at the time, it was because I was in a job I was doing because I just worked for the cash – hey I had bills to pay. If I’d had won the lottery at that point I well would have quit! I love my work now and just can’t imagine not doing it.

But it seems the mega-rich become mega-rich because mostly, they love what they do. Whether that’s running multiple companies or building lots of property. The main motivation there is intrinsic. The money is secondary.

Intrinsic motivation keeps you coming back for more. Extrinsic motivation is less reliable. When the external reward vanishes or becomes less appealing, you’ll stop repeating that behaviour.

Find things you love to do, and then do them. Use your natural interests to your advantage and greater happiness will be the result.

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