(This is Part 4 of A Guided Series on Finding Your Life Purpose. If you haven’t read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 yet, I highly suggest reading the previous articles first and then coming back to this post.)
What Drives You? Carrots, Sticks, or Something Else?
“The carrots and sticks as motivators can only go so far.”
We’ve spent all our lives doing things for either the carrot ✅ or the stick ❌. You know, some reward like good grades for doing well on a test, an ice cream treat from your parents when you complete your chores, or a raise when you do well at work. These are carrots.
But at some point, each time you do something, you expect a larger reward. And then it happens… you get another A+ on that test, that extra scoop of ice cream, or that extra raise, and it isn’t satisfying anymore. The carrot lost its charm. And maybe you’re not motivated anymore…. So now you’re motivated by the stick. You want to make sure you won’t get an F, get grounded, or lose a job.
It’s probably safe to assume that most of us wouldn’t want to be motivated by sticks. 🙅♂️ And carrot rewards are only temporarily satisfying. This is exactly what happened to me several times in my life, starting from high school.
The carrots and sticks as motivators can only go so far. When work becomes more complex or takes more mental energy to complete a task, it takes a different type of motivation to keep going.
Using Intrinsic Motivation to Drive You
In the book Drive, Daniel Pink talks about the difference between extrinsic motivation and intrinsic ones. Where extrinsic motivation is like a raise (carrot) or being fired (stick), intrinsic motivation is that internal, genuine interest to complete a task successfully.
What I've realized from just this idea is that "money isn't everything." Don't get me wrong, money allows for more opportunities. With the right amount, it will remove any anxiety and pressure in our lives, but there's a limit where more money is not as impactful to your happiness and motivation as it was under the limit. The graph doesn't look as linear anymore and it starts to taper off, it starts to plateau. 🤯
This is why you see people continuously learn an instrument without getting paid, or even have a knitting hobby for their own pleasure. It’s why you see people who have high-paying jobs and are successful executives at large companies leave their cushy job to work for a non-profit organization, or travel the world for a year and build a business that makes a fraction of what they used to make.
I'm not necessarily telling everyone to quit their job to pursue their hobby as a career. But I encourage you to reflect on whether your extrinsic motivators are actually working for your full-time job or your hobbies. If not, consider making a change in how much time & energy to put into them based on intrinsic motivators.
When you find the things you're genuinely motivated to do, the internal motivators and rewards can be way more impactful than anything else you'd get externally.