On the Fear-as-Motivation Paradigm

and why it provides a “magic” motivational formula.

“Only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the “treasure hard to attain.” He alone has a genuine claim to self-confidence, for he has faced the dark ground of his self and thereby has gained himself.” — Carl Jung

If motivation were a fire, humans have long since learned to use their emotions as kindling material. Since time immemorial, we have used our emotional brain circuitry to hack our motivational state and achieve big goals. However, some emotions prove better kindling for motivation than others. Love as fodder for motivation, I argue, is not good kindling. The fire may burn as bright, but not as long. Instead, I argue, some of the most motivated and efficient people that have ever lived are what I call fear-motivators. They can light a fire under their own butts and use that as a motive force to propel them towards a desired state. Or is it, rather, propelling them away from an undesired one? If they are harmonious, that is, they meet the same end, does it matter? I say it doesn’t (and it does).