How Freelancers Maximize Motivation Through Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.

Exploring the three elements of intrinsic motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and how they relate to freelance work.

This article was written by featured writer Ashlee Christian

Believe it or not, while money is a necessary thing that keeps us housed, fed, and clothed, it isn’t actually a primary motivator for why we do what we do. As it turns out, several studies have found that there is very little correlation between money and engagement, and in fact some have even posited that extrinsic motivators like money can have a negative impact on intrinsic motivators. So in the absence of money as a motivator, we are left with finding those intrinsic motivators that help us stay engaged in our work and do it well.

As a freelancer it can be hard to separate time as money and money as motivation, after all if you aren’t putting in the time, nobody is paying you to just exist. However, there are ways that freelancers can really capitalize on their intrinsic motivation by pursuing opportunities that allow for the cultivation of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Daniel Pink, the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, hypothesizes that there are three key elements of intrinsic motivation — autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and when we find careers that allow us to cultivate those three things, we are able to do our most meaningful and engaged work.

As it happens, those three motivators typically come pretty easy to freelancers:

Autonomy

Is our desire to be self-directed, and to have control over how we work, and the types of things we work on. This particular element may be what led you to freelancing in the first place. It is a lot easier to be motivated when you are controlling the flow and direction of your hustle. That autonomy also spills over into how freelancers control their work life balance and the way they choose to manage their business which can also lead to increased motivation.

Mastery

Mastery is our desire to get really good at something over the course of time. This motivation can be especially prevalent in freelancers as they master their particular craft and watch their business expand over time. Most folks don’t come out of the gate with a hundreds of loyal and well-paying clients. Those build over time, and a sense of progress and growth is a huge motivator, not to mention the satisfaction of honing your skills, as well as picking up new ones along the way!

Purpose

If there’s one thing we know about millennials other than the fact that we are a bunch of garbage humans who would rather eat avocado toast than buy property, it’s that they want their work to contribute to a higher purpose.

Studies have found that millennials, and actually just people in general, find the most motivation when they are engaged in purpose-driven work. When people choose to freelance, often they do so because they feel the need to pursue opportunities that are bigger and more meaningful to them than those they can find through traditional employment.

While freelancers are fairly adept at incorporating autonomy, mastery, and purpose into their work lives pretty easily, money is nice too, and as a Wethos freelancer you can get paid real money to freelance for incredible non-profits whose missions matter to you!