Here is the thing.
All of us have a drive to do something well. But in order to excell it, we need extra motivation. Where does it come from? How do we nurture it and what to do when there is none left is further being discussed in text below.
To become fully aware what motivates us takes a lot of introspection. It’s more important to focus on our motivation style than on motivation itself.
Why?
Because our motivation style helps us figure out the best way to stay motivated.
Once again, why is that important?
Before we discuss these styles, maybe we should dig into benefits and reasons behind gaining insights in the motivation style in the first place.
- Better sense of self-awareness – you will be able to identify problems and find the strength to resolve them on your terms.
- Setting goals will lead to developing traits – as you set a goal for yourself, your motivation will carve the habits and traits which will help you reach it.
- Growth of interest – having the right motivation means getting your interest to broad
- Bigger sense of satisfaction – motivational style will push you to set goals you care most about. Of course, achieving them will only mean you
- Behavior change – your motivation changes your mindset, but also different styles might have different results. They could either push you further or set you back. It’s your choice!
First things first – there are two core types of motivation: intrinsic and extirnsic motivation. If you understand the difference between the two of those, it will be easier to navigate when to use one over the other.
Extrinsic/external motivation is the one coming from around you. Anything from the outside that impacts your motivation is extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is quite the opposite. It is believed that this type of motivation is superior since it’s coming from within. The best example of internal motivation is having a strong sense of why you want to do something or a specific attitude towards the goal.
Both are useful and support your goals if you know how to own them.
There are 8 motivation styles?!
Yes, Felicity. E-I-G-H-T!
Let’s get to it. Shall we?
We have two major types of motivations which are explained by 8 different motivational styles.
Intrinsic motivation
Physiological
Primal and impossible to ignore no matter how hard we try.
Highly situational and it reflects in covering our basic needs.
Achievment
What keeps you going is finishing a task or getting to your goal. But, it doesn’t mean that you’re motivated only by the reward, but by a process which gets you there. Perfect example for this is losing weight. Someone who is oriented by an achievement will gladly step on a scale just to witness their progress – little or big.
Attitude
This motivation is cultivated by your desire to change how others feel or think. The ones who reach for this kind of motivation usually provide words or actions to make others feel better or uplifting. For example, motivational speakers provide external motivation for those around them, but the feeling they get when delivering a speech is their source of motivation. Makes sense, right?
Competence & Learning
Process > Reward. It’s all that counts. Similar to achievement motivation, but all they care about is the process and gaining knowledge. To them, it’s all about getting better and finding motivation by completing a task.
Yes, they like getting tanned on the beach in Hawaii, but learning everything about the beaches over there is far more rewarding.
And above the all intrinsic styles, the last one is the most valuable one. It’s the type of motivation you bump into when working towards any goal or task.
Extrinsic motivation
Incentive
Results & rewards > process, goals and tasks.
Basically, it’s when you sign up for a marathon, only because you want to win.
Fear
Uncomfortable yet effective. Fear motivation is driving yourself somewhere unpredictable and because of that, the external impact can be something negative. For example, you will work overtime because you doubt you can pay the bills and this causes you stress. The fear of not being able to pay your bills pushes you forward.
Although, this can have a positive outcome. For example, if you’re aware of diabeetes risk in your family, the fear of falling ill could motivate you to work out more and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Power
Mirror, mirror on the wall…Who’s the most powerful of ’em all? Those who crave power are motivated by having control over their own lives and sometimes, they want to extend it to others as well. Everyone wants to be able to make choices and the motivation that different choices provide regarding school or diet manifest in daily life.
Affiliation & Social
Last but not least, affiliation and social motivation is something within us stemming from our desire to connect and contribute to society. This style is deepend by the need of being accepted and belonging to a group.
What does this mean?
Ultimately, you will have more control of your life which will make you progress and participate in encouranging others to make necessary changes. It will bring you clarity over what brings you satisfaction, interests and how you want to grow.
