Intrinsic Motivation

Finding intrinsic motivation will help propel you forward with anything you do. Intrinsic is defined as: “belonging naturally; essential.” Finding motivation in your life that feels natural and essential to your being helps erase the “carrot and stick” motivation, which tends to cause people to stop after they reach their goals. Intrinsic motivation with goals, projects, hobbies, and life persists. It persists beyond the initial measuring stick goals you set for yourself. You reach the first goal and then move on to the next goal without missing a beat. There is no post-race-day comedown, you finish the first part and move on to the next.

The main question when thinking about intrinsic motivation is how you find it. Carving out a self-identity for who you want to be and who you think you are is a great first step to unlocking the power of intrinsic motivation. Once a self-identity is formed, you can find intrinsic motivation through your desires for autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

With a self-identity known, you are choosing who you want to be. You are choosing who you think you are. You are choosing the activities you want to engage with. You are choosing how you spend your free time. The power of your choosing unlocks a feeling of autonomy which leads to an increase in intrinsic motivation. With autonomy, you are in control. You are no longer playing a sport because your parents forced you. You are no longer reading because your English class assigned the book. You are back in the driver’s seat of your life.

Hand in hand with autonomy comes the pursuit of mastery. Since you are leading your life, and since you are choosing what to do, you will likely have chosen activities, tasks, hobbies, and goals, which matter to you. Since they matter to you, you will become more and more intrinsically motivated to become better at whatever you are working towards. If you identify as a musician and choose to spend your time playing the guitar, you will find yourself motivated to pursue mastery. Pursuing a sense of accomplishment, or getting better, with the activities you fill your time helps to extend the desire for continual effort and improvement, making the motivation sustainable.

Autonomy and the pursuit of mastery mesh together to create intrinsic motivation. Taking the next step in finding increased intrinsic motivation is finding purpose in your goals, hobbies, and activities you choose to do. Purpose also means finding your “why.”

Why do you want to become a runner?

Why do you want to speak a new language?

Finding out the answers to your “why” grants you a sense of purpose.

Expanding outward can also help you find a sense of purpose. Making it bigger than yourself has a powerful effect on how you view the journey of work needed to accomplish your desires. If you identify as a musician, choose to spend your time playing the guitar, pursue mastery of this skill, AND desire to teach your kids how to play when they are old enough, you now have a purpose. You now have an eternal feeling of fulfillment when you pursue this venture. Purpose does not have to be an outward-facing feeling nor does it have to exist for intrinsic motivation to fill your life. When you have a defined self-identity, and practice autonomy and mastery with your choices, purpose is the cherry on top that appears to help you maintain the desire to continue your pursuits.

Identifying what you want to do on a personal level, getting better at things that matter to you, and finding your “why” for pursuing these things will perpetuate a cycle of intrinsic motivation that will elevate you in all aspects of life.