Why Do You Do The Things You Do?
Each and every day we live on our lives doing something. Whether it’s pointless or not. But what drives you to do the things you do? Actually, what encourages you to do what you do? Is it because you want to or rather because you need to? I’m sure at one point in our lives we wondered “why am I doing this?” According to an article by Marylene Gagne and Edward L. Deci called “Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation,” they discuss the cognitive evaluation theory and self determination theory in explaining work motivation. In their article they bring in different components and parts to motivation and the ways in which these factors influence our work.
In their article, they mention two key components to the cognitive evaluation theory which consists of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. They also bring in the idea of feelings of autonomy which are weakened by some external factors such as tangible rewards, deadlines, surveillance and evaluation while enhanced by other external factors such as “providing choice about aspects of task engagement”(Gagne & Deci). As I read through the article I understood the role that intrinsic and extrinsic motivators have on individuals to encourage them to work. Another key idea that caught my attention was the self determination theory that is the “distinction between autonomous motivation and controlled motivation”(Gagne & Deci). In other words, intrinsic motivation is an example of autonomous motivation and extrinsic motivation is an example of a controlled motivation. These are they key ideas in which I mentioned because it relates to the questions I asked earlier about why we work.
After reading this article, I sat down and thought about why I do the things I do. I’ve come to realize that I have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that cause me to work. For example, I work because thats whats considered socially acceptable and what others think I should do. My parents expect me to do well in school which is why it’s important for me to meet those expectations. At times, I lose myself in the work I do because I forget the value it has for myself. This is why I began thinking of the ways in which these actions can benefit myself. In doing so, I’ve developed as an improved my self motivation skills. I intend to continue practicing this skill by analyzing the pros and cons of the work I do in order to understand the value and reasons behind them.
