Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It is the crucial element in setting and of course attaining goals. It is usually interchanged with “Inspiration” and there are of course,Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to do anything.

Before we get into the types of motivation, it is important to acknowledge a few things..

First of all, we say our main goal in life is to be as happy as possible, have you really asked yourself what it is going to take for each of us to achieve that?

Secondly, just as you must have seen on other posts on this site… i write a lot about how we all have our own individual map of reality. We see the world according to what’s important to us. Therefore,we cannot keep all the knowledge of what’s important to us in our conscious awareness always because there’s too much information and our brain is being bombarded with over 40,000 bits of information every moment and we might get lost or distracted into some of all that data. This is why it’s important to keep yourself motivated to enable you filter through all that data in order to get the job /task done.

So, there are two major types of motivation :

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation is geared toward internal rewards and re-inforcers. This is just like when we celebrate our success when we do well and then beat ourselves up when we don’t .Intrinsic just as the name implies is geared towards internal rewards. Internal rewards are associated with high academic and occupational achievement.

It seems motivation is strongest when we do it for the fun of it…or for the feeling of accomplishment. It could be a hobby, or a career path, or our purpose in life even. Some examples of internal reinforcers are “Shoulds”, “Musts”, and “Oughts”, a guilty conscience, and even Toxic Shame.

Traits of intrinsic motivation can be seen in believing in ones self. For example, you may be motivated to get a promotion because of self-improvement or the joy of learning. Conversely, you might be motivated to succeed because you want to positively affect the lives of the people around you.Some examples of internal rewards are achievements, enjoyment, a sense of competence etc..

Extrinsic Motivation is geared toward external rewards and reinforcers. This is more common than intrinsic motivation because it includes achieving things due to a specific incentive, fear, or expectation, all of which depend on external factors. For example, people may want to get a promotion because of the expected raise that comes with it..(an this is obviously geared towards an external reward). Some examples of external rewards are money, praise, awards, etc. Few examples of external reinforcers are disciplinary action, boundary-setting, procedures and policies.etc..

Motivation is actually more complex than simply defining it by its internal or external drivers. Each broad type of motivation has many sub-types of its own, but having a broader view of the types of motivation could be the foundation you need to start something new.

Basically, ask yourself, ”what is the reason behind your actions and how did you arrive at that?”… ”Did i do that out of love or out of fear”?

Till the next read