Fueling human achievement sustainably

In a fantastic youtube video, Rian Doris discusses the difference between internal and external motivation.

According to Ryan, intrinsic motivation is a renewable energy source. It is a fuel that doesn’t run out. In fact, cultivating intrinsic motivation makes more intrinsic motivation available to use.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation is unsustainable: you may get a few bursts of energy, but eventually you will burn out.

Extrinsic motivation we are all familiar with: money, status, loss-avoidance.

But the intrinsic motivators are more opaque: curiosity, mastery, autotelicty, autonomy and purpose.

In this discussion of intrinsic motivation, I argue that as long as we have discipline, then we can be intrinsically motivated by near-enough anything we do. We take the definition of discipline to be “Doing what you hate to do but doing it like you love it”.

The simple thesis is that if we stick with anything long enough, we will get good at it, and humans innately enjoy that which they excel at. And without discipline, we won’t be able to stick to anything.

Curiosity

Curiosity links to the nature of learning itself: the process of learning motivates more learning. If learning and applying knowledge doesn’t motivate you to learn more – then perhaps the subject matter isn’t capable of intrinsic motivation.

However, only when you have exhausted the cannon of a topic can you truly claim to have discovered limitations in curiosity-evoking capabilities. Go back to the foundations, and you will be surprised at the depths of your subject. Furthermore, the true magic in curiosity comes from action: as you see your knowledge applied and you see your learning enabling further progress; the progress should become a motivation in and of itself – i.e. an intrisinc motivation.

Auto-telicity

Auto-telicity means that the act is enjoyment in and of itself. To make the work enjoyable in and of itself, means that work must feel like play. Here again, the same question determines presence: are you getting better?

If you are improving, we find enjoyment in seeing ourselves grow and the process of continuous improvement can itself become the game. And in the motto of discipline: we do what we hate with love. With such an attitude, that which you do inevitably becomes enjoyable – just for having set yourself the target and then getting it done.

Mastery

Closely linked to both curiosity and auto-telicity is “mastery”. That desire to endlessly improve, irrespective of any external accolade but for the sake of growth itself. Whether mastery is a present motivator depends on whether there are people better than you, and whether you can genuinely aspire to be like them.

If you are already the greatest in your field, then you might struggle to find someone superior to act as an intrinsic motivation to improve. However, it’s impossible to become the greatest through external motivation alone, thus, you must already be internally motivated.

Autonomy

Did you choose to do what you’re doing? Do you control your time, your methodology, your place of work? Do you at least have some input into these factors? A sense of ownership and a sense of responsibility gives people a drive to perform work that is separate to the drive to make money / look good to peers. This sense of ownership is an intrinsic motivator.

However, one does not have to be in charge to feel a sense of ownership. This is evidenced in Stockholm syndrome: when the slave identifies themselves with the owner; they happily obey and even when free they refuse to leave. Accordingly, we can all find autonomy in our work as long as we identify it as our work. This requires a simple shift in perception such as tracing back our current activity to a moment just before starting – that moment where we chose to do what we are doing.

Purpose

Finally, the main root of intrinsic motivation resides with purpose. And purpose is perhaps the most critical of the motivators. As Nietzsche said: “He who has a sufficient why, can bear almost any how.”

Everything else can be subdued and overwhelmed by the driving force that purpose brings. But how to cultivate this in “anything”? Well, all we need is a slither of our purpose to be incorporated in our day-to-day actions. We must see each step-in front of us as a stepping stone to that larger, wider purpose. But to always keep that larger purpose in mind to act as fuel for the fire of our relentless forward energy.

Overall, intrinsic motivation is a matter of self-reflection, pruning of desire and focus. Focus on the process, focus on ourselves and, most importantly, focus on a bigger purpose.

Work done for the sake of work itself is a good thing. And work done for external rewards is dangerous. But what about the work that most of us do, work simply for money?

Can money (or the other villain in this story: status) be intrinsic motivations? According to the discussion above, there seems no reason why not. The key is to identify and amplify intrinsic motivators for a sustainable source of energy. And importantly, to be keenly aware if these fall away, because that is when energy is at risk of running out.