One of my many goals is to help motivate everyone around me whether it is my kids, my spouse, my family, my teams, women, my peers and finally, myself. As I think about motivation and what it means, I had to of course think about what motivation means and what are the types of motivation. Motivation is the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. Can you recognize yourself in the four types and the question is are these inherent to who you are, or can they be influenced and change over time?
Extrinsic Motivation (come from be external reward or avoid punishment) – This could be motivated by a title, bonus, recognition or going the speed limit so I avoid a speeding ticket
Intrinsic Motivation (come from within us) – Motivated to read, learn, be fit, achieve – all things that are intrinsic to one’s nature
Introjected Motivation (negative internalized motivation, like negative reinforcement) Motivated by guilt around a previous negative interaction with a boss or colleague or consistent negative feedback without positive action items
Identified Motivation (personally identified with the importance of a behavior and accepted it) – prepping for a meeting, results in a better outcome
When is the last time you asked yourself what motivates you and are you able to recognize what motivates the people around you that you want to motivate?
Food for thought as we head into a holiday weekend. I will end with a couple of my favorite quotes about motivation - “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt and “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney. Be motivated! Dream BIG !
