Motivation – Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

Why do you do what you do? It’s undoubtedly because you’re motivated to do so. But is your motivation intrinsic or extrinsic, and why does it matter?

I’ve written in the past about why you do what you do, and I said that it’s due to the values and priorities you have. And most of the time, you say and act a certain way because you’re motivated to based on the values you believe are important – the motivation comes from with yourself. But I wanted to expand on that a little because there are times when you do something because of something other than your values too. One reason why that happens is because you’re motivated to do so by something outside of yourself.

Your values determine the decisions you make, and your goals determine the type of life you want to live. If they don’t match up, you’ll create a constant struggle against yourself and you’ll probably fail in reaching most of your goals. But if they are aligned with each other, you’ll have an internal motivating force pushing you to accomplish them and you’ll achieve most if not all of them!

By making sure that you know what your values are first and setting your goals in accordance with your values, you will have built-in motivation to achieve them. This type of motivation – the type that comes from within yourself – is called intrinsic motivation. This is opposed to being motivated by something outside of yourself (like money, fame, power, or some other reward), which is called extrinsic motivation.

It’s not that extrinsic motivation is bad – it’s just that it isn’t nearly as good as intrinsic motivation. If you are trying to base your goals on things that are extrinsically motivating to you, it’s highly likely that two things will happen.

First, that motivation will wear off. Just like when you go to a pep rally or hear a great speaker – they can pump you up and get you motivated for sure! But as time passes, that motivation fades away and at some point it isn’t strong enough to cause to you act upon it anymore. This is especially true when you don’t enjoy doing what’s necessary to accomplish your goals. So if your goals take longer to achieve than the length of time the extrinsic motivation can remain strong to you, then you’ll give up on your goals before you achieve them.

Second, it’s almost always the case that when you are trying to achieve something due to extrinsic motivation, once you have achieved it and get that extrinsic reward you realize that it’s not as great as you thought it would be. Even the goals that you do end up being able to achieve; once you do, you’ll find yourself saying “is this all there is?” You will only feel fulfilled momentarily, and that fulfillment will be quickly replaced by disappointment and a sense of wanting more.

But when you are motivated to achieve something due to intrinsic motivation, it’s completely different!

When your motivation comes from within yourself, when it’s based on your values, your motivation will not wear off. It can’t wear off because your values are very concrete things and they don’t change or diminish quickly or easily. So you will remain motivated to achieve your goals for a much longer period of time, and that motivation will stay strong because every time you think about a goal, it’ll strike a match in your soul that will rekindle the flame that gives you burning desire to achieve it!

And when you do achieve your goals, you will feel a sense of fulfillment  accomplishment, and gratitude which won’t wear off. Rather, you’ll be able to enjoy your accomplishment and you’ll be raised to a higher level of excellence. You’ll undoubtedly start to want to achieve even more, but it’ll be because you know that you’re not capable of more, responsible enough to handle more, and desire to be able to give more – rather than because you’re disappointed that the achievement didn’t provide as much fulfillment as you had hoped.

And remember, it’s not that extrinsic motivation is a bad thing. It’s just that intrinsic motivation is so much better, and that’s why your goals must be based primarily on intrinsically motivating factors – your values. 

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