Are you motivated to work and to invest?
By what exactly?
Some say, “One single motivation model does not fit all, because everyone is different.“
I say, “Everyone is NOT different. At our core, we are wired the same way. We are all human beings. What motivates and inspires me, motivates and inspires you.”
And very few people are wired to solely work for money (though they will pretend that they are).
Certainly, competitive pay is a must for attracting and retaining us at work.
Yet, when it comes to reinforcing behaviors and boosting our engagement, money has a few disadvantages:
- the satisfaction it delivers is short-lived. It’s a fleeting motivational and feel‐good factor, but it dissipates as fast as the ink dries on the pay review letter or you have put aside your depot statement.
- high pay unless you intend to attract/retain people who are purely mercenary is not a viable long-term strategy. The people that stay around for purely financial reasons will be the first to bail when a better offer comes along, and it inevitably will.
- money never makes up for lack of intrinsic motivation. We simply cannot get paid enough to like our job.
More sustainable is to have our basic human needs met.
Many of them are intrinsic in nature.
Because when money isn’t your motivator, you’ll get paid more!
This applies to your work and to your investing.
Only intrinsic motivation lasts
Would you agree or not?
If you are not intrinsically motivated, your default option is usually extrinsic motivation.
That leaves you foraging for carrots (money, rewards, returns, praising, power, status, prizes) proven to have just the opposite effect as intrinsic motivation.
You may experience a burst of energy, but it’s not the kind of energy that promotes creativity or well-being. And, it dissipates quickly, leaving you starving for more carrots just to keep going.
Unfortunately, intrinsic motivation driven by our passion is rare. Especially at work. How often during your day do you say, “I’d do this even if I wasn’t getting paid?”
But intrinsic motivation from doing what you love is just one way to be optimally motivated.
If that kind of intrinsic motivation eludes you at the moment, don’t default to extrinsic motivation.
Motivation research proves that doing what you love is a joy, but aligning what you do with important values and a sense of purpose will still generate the positive energy you need to be creative and productive — and could prove even more meaningful and long-lasting.
How are you keeping yourself motivated to work towards your goals?
How could you reframe how you think about your work and how it creates meaning for yourselves and others?
What is your meaningful purpose?