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It needs to come from within
Mainstream media has been flooded with talk of ‘progressive habits’ and ‘building processes and systems’, championing them as sure-fire ways to ensure success in whatever field, endeavor or career path a person hopes to break into. A good amount of truth can be found in books like Atomic Habits by James Sinclair that advocate for training your mind and body to automatically get into work mode without much push. As good as these books are, they do a great job at understating the importance of motivation, specifically intrinsic motivation.
Over the past couple years the general consensus has been to build a career around an activity, skill or craft you genuinely and holistically enjoy. This is often referred to as passion. A word that is hard to define but whose feeling is familiar to most.
Many people are passionate about medicine - dissecting bodies, how much anaesthesia is enough anaesthesia, the skeletal system. Others are passionate about finance - the importance of credit scores, why certain countries are in huge dept, the switch from cash to card. When you find yourself going down the rabbit hole of a particular field with enthusiasm and curiosity, know that you are on the right track. Don’t make the mistake of turning back too soon.
Here’s why.
The deeper you go, the more you find out, the more likely you are to let more information and insight delight you for no other reason apart from its ability to spark something in you in a way you can’t quite explain.
When curiosity doesn’t kill the cat, it often reveals the one thing we all look for when searching for a career path we can fully commit towards. Some call it passion, but a more appropriate word would be,
Intrinsic motivation is the drive to engage in behaviors that are inherently satisfying and enjoyable. It is the internal fuel you use to work on that digital illustration at 2am, or work on your book every single day of the week. Intrinsically motivated behaviour is that which is performed regardless of the final outcome because the results are often inconsequential on output.
A study by Lisa Legault from Clarkson University dived deep into the science behind intrinsic motivation and revealed the following findings:
Okay, so you know what it is, but you might still be scratching your head at why it’s so important. Well, if you must know, Intrinsic motivation has a fraternal twin - External motivation. This is the guy who helps you find the best career to help you through the here and now, but is terrible at helping you identify what will fulfill and sustain you in the long run.
Externally motivated behaviour is driven by the circumstances and demands of your surrounding environment. Think behind on bills. Think rising cost of living. Think baby on the way. When there are financial demands or legal stressors hanging over your head, what you enjoy doing becomes less important than what will satisfy the problem at hand.
However, this does not necessarily apply to all of us. There is a huge cohort of people who are externally motivated by a desire for better circumstances and financial comforts. Think 6 car garage. Think generational wealth. Think financial freedom. As much as these motivators are understandable and even commendable, they put an expiry date for your career.
It's okay to work a job that is a means to an end. That is actually what the bulk of society does and plans on doing for the foreseeable future, however if you can, I strongly urge you to pick a career you are intrinsically motivated towards.
The reason being that externally motivated pursuits often die out once the goal has been reached, and often entail performance that is just enough to get across the line. By that I mean working on a project to the point that it satisfies the bottom line, or training a client just enough to get them to their targets. External motivation pushes you just enough to meet bare minimum requirements, and assuming you are the type of person who holds themself to a high standard, I can’t imagine you would want to put yourself down on a path that will coerce and compel you to work enough just to get to the next stage.
So the other, less opted for but much more rewarding option?
You guessed it. Intrinsic motivation.
Because you will engage in work that you will fully embrace and produce results that you can holistically be proud of. If you are someone who hopes to look forward to every morning in the office, everyday in the field, then I urge you to craft a career out of a special something that makes your heart jump every time you think about it.
It could all be so simple.