The truth about motivation

I have found that motivation is radically misunderstood in our culture. I believe that a big part of my work is understanding how motivation works, so I’m going to share some thoughts with you.

Our entire culture—and economy—is set up around extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is made of incentives and punishments. When something happens during—or right after—you complete an action, it’s a reward. That’s different. Rewards are usually emotional in nature. Like feeling excitement after solving a challenge. Immediacy is everything. Of course, a well-timed compliment or hug can also fit the bill.

Incentives are what we conventionally think of when people say reward. But they’re different. Unlike rewards, incentives have a time-delay. Paycheques and bonuses are incentives. “Do this now and I’ll give you that later.”

Punishment does play a role. However, it’s a limited one. Punishment is far less reliable than incentives when it comes to shaping behaviour. It is also a joyless and uncreative strategy.

Let’s come back to incentives. Incentives are what operate the machinery of most of our society. That’s capitalism, baby! The problem is that incentives work against intrinsic motivation. The moment that you’re extrinsically motivated—pressured, promised accolades, etc—to do something you already enjoy, enjoyment will decrease. The act becomes more transactional in nature. More perfunctory. More efficient.

Imagine a little kid who loves trains. She will go back and forth between interests in colour, speed, manufacturing process, etc. Efficiency is not a consideration. A kid who has to take an academic course on trains will have a different experience. She’ll probably want to know how to get a good enough grade. Efficiency is key. The odds of doing anything extra drop substantially. And the effect is subtle but powerful. It not only diminishes learning; it homogenizes it in a group or classroom setting. I think about this effect a lot in the context of exercise.

When I dropped my son off at school yesterday, he was full of beans. He ran back and forth during the whole walk and was grinning most of the time. He had at least an extra 30% distance compared to me. Probably because nobody has sucked the fun out of exercise for him yet.

You might be curious how motivation works in a coached setting like Bang Personal Training. That’s the reason our coaches ask members about values and priorities. We are here to understand them and then provide options. This is an ongoing process. I believe that our work is in understanding why and teaching how; not in saying what. That last part kind of takes care of itself.

When you feel incentivized to create a certain outcome, it can muddy up the signals. What you really enjoy may become less clear. There’s a simple way to avoid this, though: stay open to what engages your curiosity. Look for these things. Try them out. Shrink down the challenge or otherwise make them more accessible. Go above and beyond because it’s fun. Or because it’s meaningful. And when you don’t have to but you want to.


GG