How to Increase Intrinsic Motivation
Motivation—the drive to do something—can be from external rewards (extrinsic motivation) such as your favourite treat, money, recognition, or from within (intrinsic motivaton). Research has shown that people perform better and are more satisfied when they are intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated. These motivations can also exist in combination for a particular action. For example, a student may study because her parent promised to buy her something she really likes if she scores well on her exam. This is extrinsic motivation. She may also study just because she loves to study and likes to excel academically. This is intrinsic motivation. Both might be true at the same time. This is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. So one might think a combination might make the overall motivation very strong, right?
Not necessarily. Interestingly, research reveals that providing extrinsic motivation for an action that is already intrinsically motivated can reduce that intrinsic motivation. This may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but it’s a useful insight for parents, teachers, students, managers of workplaces and just about anybody who has goals. The trick is to not excessively reward (yourself or someone else, for) a behavior that is already intrinsically motivated. Limiting external rewards and disregarding them in your mind when they come along can help you focused on internal reasons for your work. There are also ways to increase intrinsic motivation. Checking if your work is along the lines of both your big goals and what is important to you, can help. This may require some evaluation and reevaluation of your goals and values. This way, you will be chasing your passion with your work. Even if you do your work for merely practical reasons and there is no intrinsic motivation there, you might be able to link your work to responsibilities and relationships in your life that are important to you, such as supporting your family. However, you will do best if you don’t hate what you do.
Further resources on the subject are available online, and you could also consider a few sessions with a counselor to figure out your life goals and boost your motivation.
Stay (intrinsically) motivated!
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