Fulfilling Work & Intrinsic Motivation

I had a coaching session this morning where my client, like many of us, is seeking to not just work, but pursue his most meaningful work.

Doing work that matters to us seems to be synonymous with doing work from a place of intrinsic motivation, instead of extrinsic motivation.

But intrinsic motivation affects more than just our work. It allows us to break free from the judgments of others and operate from a place of creativity and joy.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation

This is basically just another way to say external validation, which tends to be the default for us.

We’re often motivated by needing to prove others wrong or seeking approval of people we respect. This is a valid way to fuel our drive to work hard, but it’s dirty fuel. It burns intensely, and then it burns out. It’s a short burst of motivation, but it’s not sustainable.

We let opinions of the external world measure the value of our work, and even the value of us as individuals. If this sounds futile, it’s because it is.

Others end up controlling us since we cannot control the opinions of others.

We’re no different than a puppet: We go up when someone sees our work as valuable, we go down when they say the opposite.

“Hey, great demo! I‘d love to invest…oh, sorry, I was talking about the demo behind you. I’ll reach out to you when I’m ready to revisit your product.”

Our lives end up fragile and volatile when our self-worth is in the hands of someone else.

We’re stuck in extrinsic motivation as a default until we start learning how to derive motivation from within.

Intrinsic motivation

Being motivated from within is much more elusive than extrinsic motivation because it’s intangible since it’s inside of us.

You know you’re internally motivated if opinions are no longer the driving factor for the decisions you make.

You are the one providing yourself with self-worth instead of relying on others.

The Components of Intrinsic Motivation

Based on my coaching sessions, intrinsic motivation seems to be inextricably linked to two components:

1. Enjoyment of the work
2. Pride in the work produced

Enjoyment of the work

The constituent parts involved with us enjoying what we work on seem to be:

• Enjoyment through the act: The literal process of doing the work is enjoyable in itself.
  • e.g. I love the act of being perceptive and making connections while deeply listening in coaching sessions.
• Enjoyment through alignment: Work is enjoyable when it is in line with our values and personal philosophy, or when it is congruent with our long-term pursuits.
  • e.g. Being a dad to a toddler is hard, and at times, it’s really not fun, but I still enjoy it day-in, day-out because I want to raise my child into an excellent human being, and I want to keep growing as a father.

Pride in the work produced

Producing work that we are proud to put out into the world is an extremely underrated source of being motivated internally to do great work.

Focusing on the quality of output no matter what the output is, enables a great sense of agency in us.

I think of the main character in the film Perfect Days who cleans public washrooms in Tokyo and derives so much satisfaction and joy from simply doing a good job. This movie is so great because you can really feel how proud he is for executing a job well done.

Work rooted in Intrinsic Motivation

At the most basic level, being motivated by clean fuel doesn’t necessarily mean your work is going to be different from before, but now the same work feels less heavy (levity), matters more to you (purpose), and you resonate with it deeply (joy).

We also end up doing work from a place of service instead of obligation. Leaders focus on serving their teammates and the world around them. And some of us shift our work that is more purely rooted in the service of humanity and the planet.

But the biggest shift I’ve noticed for myself is that creative work suddenly becomes a thing. Our creative selves come back online when we are not bound by the judgments of others, when we are free to think and do based on our intuition. The result is that our work becomes a vehicle for self-expression and making connections that can only come from dynamic, unbound thinking.