In order to change and better ourselves, we need motivation to encourage us to act – without it, all our goals feel out of our reach. Motivation can come from pretty much anywhere, but often feels like its nowhere to be found.
According to an Eden Springs survey, over half of UK workers lack motivation! Those numbers are pretty appalling, but it makes sense! Motivating yourself isn’t easy – especially if you don’t know where to start.
So, we thought we’d tackle this question, where does this motivation come from? If you lose it, how can you find it again?
This guide will start by helping you understand the four main motivating factors behind any action.
What are the four main factors of motivation?
These factors can be broken down into two categories: action and non-action. Action motivation can be both external and internal. As such, they are known as extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation respectively. Non-action motivation, likewise, can also have external and internal factors – they are known as identified and introjected motivation.
Let’s take a look at each one and understand what they mean.
- Extrinsic Motivation
‘Extrinsic’ comes from the Latin ‘exter’ meaning outer. As such, extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside our control.
Let’s look at an example: your boss asks you to do something at work. Why do you do it? This motivation to act relies on the fact that your boss has power over you – you are compelled to obey your boss’ command.
Motivation through this method can be both simple and effective but ultimately fails in the long-term. Having self-driven workers can be a more sustainable model for success.
- Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is – you guessed it! – the opposite to extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is internally driven, often by an inherent value-system or a hedonistic desire to act. In the example above, people would be motivated to work in areas they find personally interesting.
- Introjected Motivation
Introjected motivation is a lot like intrinsic motivation. They both come from an internal place. Introjected motivation, also known as regulation, is motivation that comes from an internal pressuring voice. Rather than being motivated by a set of values, this kind of motivation comes from fear – feelings like shame, worry or guilt encourage one to act out of obligation rather than desire.
- Identified Motivation
Identified motivation is when a person is aware of a problem but hasn’t yet decided to resolve this issue.
Staying Motivated
Staying motivated really isn’t an easy task. The key to all of motivation issues is to find a source of motivation that is healthy and aids in your achievement of specific goals. But finding that motivation in the first place is hard! Intrinsic motivation is extremely difficult to develop and extrinsic motivation can be limiting.
Providing motivation is the ultimate goal of Ceed. Ceed effectively provides you with your own life coach.
Through us, you can help find and nurture motivation – a helping hand when you need one.
Ceed holds you accountable to your goals through our dedicated team and state-of-the-art app. To find out more, take a look at our service.