Motivation Rules

Frederick Herzberg, an American psychologist, developed his Two-Factor motivation theory. It’s based on job satisfaction and what he calls hygiene factors. It’s an incredibly detailed theory of workplace motivation.

Another type of motivation that people experience is called intrinsic motivation this is when you do an activity, not to achieve something, but simply because you enjoy doing it. For example, I love to write with a fountain pen. I don’t have to write anything in particular or have a goal in mind. I just write for the joy of writing.

Psychologists believe that motivation is driven by a cyclical process. The process starts with either a thought. For example, you have the thought that you need to get promoted. As a consequence of these thoughts, you take the actions needed to get promoted. This then leads to more thought, which then leads to more action.

People can be motivated by things external of themselves. This is when an external event, such as having an unexpected child, suddenly motivates to get a new job or bigger house.

Scientists believe that motivation is strongly linked to emotionally-based values. For example, I might hold the value that hard work always pays off. Therefore I’ll be motivated to stay late in work and put in extra shifts solely based on that value.

Another way of looking at our motivation is to think that our motivation comes from the perceived benefits of taking a specific action, not the action itself. For example, you take the action to earn more money, not because you want more money, but because you can buy things with that money. But those things also have reasons why associated with them. SO your real motivation is much deeper than just wanting more money.

That something else is the “Why”. The “why” is your real motivation behind your actions. I desire to run away from that tiger. Why? So I can live and avoid pain. Another example, I desire to own a sports car. The “why” in this case, the real motivation to own a car, is to look cool and successful. So you see the real motivation behind a goal of the reasons why you want to achieve that goal, not the goal self.

Motivation manifests itself as a desire in our minds. So motivation is thought. And these thoughts can be both emotionally driven and logically driven. Most people think motivation looks something like this: I desire to run away from a tiger. However, that’s not really the motivation. The motivation comes from something else…