Day Three
It has only been three days and I am already feeling the effects of my self-motivating journey. I spent quite a few hours in the library catching up and completing assignments. I have a few exams coming up that I refuse to let myself wait until the last minute to study for. Today I also went on a run and to the gym to help get my step count up. I have been exercising more to develop intrinsic motivation for exercise. Currently, I need encouragement and an incentive, however I want the activity itself to be enjoyable.
Yesterday I mentioned that I would go into more depth about why people feel the need to work. Today I will focus on intrinsic motivation and save extrinsic motivation for tomorrow. Intrinsic motivation is simply the enjoyment you get out of an activity for its own sake. The importance of this, specifically in the workplace is that after completing a task, the employee is rewarded by the behavior itself. This promotes productivity and the will to keep getting better. Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, authors of Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior, define intrinsic behaviors as ones that are “performed out of interest and satisfy the innate psychological needs for competence and autonomy.” In other words, the motivation is driven internally and does not lead to a separable outcome. For example, to help get intrinsically motivated and to go to the gym consistently and stay in shape, I can develop a fitness plan. This is a routine that I can continue to follow and eventually if all goes as planned, I can develop the intrinsic motivation to do the activities because I enjoy them without any external rewards.
Examples of intrinsic motivation include:
- Falling in love because you want to.
- Learning a language because you find it interesting.
- Writing stories just because you enjoy writing.
Citations:
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Springer Science Business Media.
