Motivation

“I’m not motivated”

Ever questioned why that happens?

Doesn’t matter if it’s:

• the gym

• uni or school

• my own business

I usually experience fluctuating levels of motivation.

Uni?

Barely any (aka, none)

My business?

A lot (but also dependant on the task)

The gym?

Might just be unlimited (or so it feels like)

But why is that in the first place?

We know dopamine and the whole pleasure-pain balance play a role here.

But there is another way to look at it.

Recently I watched a video that broke down how motivation works.

Not on a biological level-

but on a psychological one.

Honestly?

It’s less complicated and more actionable than understanding the dopamine stuff.

It explained why I’m demotivated at times.

And of course, most importantly, how I can fix it.

Nobody ever complained about more motivation.

Burning to do your work tasks might be the best productivity hack on the planet.

If work is your favorite thing to do?

You’ll just continue doing it.

Without burnout, immense fatigue, constant productivity guilt, or worse: Quitting on your dreams.

One thing up front:

There’s a difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

It’s simple:

Extrinsic → You do something because of the (often material) reward it promises

This could be:

• hustling for the money

• increasing attractiveness for girls

And why does this work?

Again, simple: Our brains enjoy the anticipation of a reward more than getting the reward. We generally like chasing stuff.

Which then leads to some sort of this problem:

Once we get the external reward (e.g. money), we’re not satisfied and want to slave away for more external reward (e.g. more money).

And this then leads to problems with life down the line and all of that 14h a day hustle culture mentality.

But I’ll focus on the other type of motivation today:

Intrinsic motivation.

Doing something because you simply like doing it, for the sake of doing it.

It’s the more powerful one of the two.

If you don’t need rewards to do work or gym or [insert your hard task], you’ll instantly be better off.

You’d be able to go forever.

Often, this leads to even more material success in the end anyway.

One thing is for certain:

It definitely leads to a better life.

Now you got that, we’ll move on to the juicy part:

The 5 pillars of intrinsic motivation.

Master all of them in whatever area of life?

You’ll never be demotivated again-

ok, that’s not a guarantee.

But honestly:

You’ll be able to analyze why you don’t want to do certain things and take steps towards increasing your motivation long term.

Understanding this stuff is worth it.

Curiosity

This is a simple pillar.

If you are curious about a topic, you’ll want to explore it more.

You’re motivated to go into detail about it, study it, make it a large part of your life.

I’m extremely curious about performance, productivity, that kinda stuff (maybe you’ve noticed)

What this leads to?

I constantly want to learn more about the topic.

And here comes the crucial point:

What you learn has to positively influence your actions.

At best, your work (or whatever else you’re motivated for)

You have to see literal results in front of you, telling you that you’ve been improving in the gym, in uni or in your business because of the stuff you’ve learned.

And you’ll want to learn even more.

The only issue is:

You can’t really change or influence what you’re naturally curious about.

Certain people might make certain topics more interesting to you, but in the end your “passion” is whatever it is.

(provided you're not numbed by constant TikTok exposure)

Passion is in quotes as it’s admittedly a tricky topic.

Assuming you, the reader, have a functioning brain, your curiosities are more than just consuming, Instagram and 18+ videos.

More like:

• health

• writing

• creating

• business

• psychology

• performance

And more.

This is why nobody reading this gave two shits about school.

It’s one of the reasons most people hate their jobs.

For example:

I’m extremely curious about this topic of intrinsic motivation, which is why I’m pretty motivated to share it with all of you.

I researched, drafted, and tried to distill this topic down as best as I could because I want to share my curiosity.

What can we do to increase it (for topics we don’t like)?

We can find a new medium- certain people can make certain topics a lot more entertaining and interesting.

But apart from that?

Best choose to do things that really interest you from the get-go.

Writing for example.

Mastery

Mastery is the pursuit of excellence and improvement.

In other words:

Getting good in lots of different skills that you need for your work or craft.

Business has basically infinite skills you can focus on, learn, and achieve mastery in.

There is no limit to the knowledge or areas you can get better in.

Again, in other words:

There are always more challenges to conquer.

Imagine you’re a tennis player, the best in the world.

And you’re so perfect that every shot you shoot is perfect.

Where’s the challenge?

Where’s the opportunity to improve, to learn more?

If it doesn’t exist, there will be severe motivation issues.

The tennis player won’t train anymore.

Won’t try to give his absolute best anymore, and won’t step outside of his comfort zone.

Challenge and the opportunity to improve different skills is a huge part of motivation.

A simple factory worker won’t enjoy his work very much, because he can’t improve.

There’s nothing to get better at.

Don’t cap your motivation by doing something you can’t improve in.

Autotelicity

Don’t be scared by the big word.

It simply means: Loving what you do because you love the activity.

It naturally puts you in a state of flow.

For me?

It’s writing.

I chose X as a medium for my business because of my love of writing.

I can get into flow if I follow a few necessary steps and just start.

Your love for a task might be something different.

Maybe there’s nothing greater in the world than lifting weights.

Or shuffling cards and doing magic stunts.

Or playing football.

Important is that you love the activity-

and once again, you can’t really influence what you like.

Example:

I hated school (shocker)

But I still enjoyed writing certain stuff, like articles in German class.

Even though most of the other pillars of intrinsic motivation didn’t exist, I still enjoyed the flow of writing.

And while you can’t change what you truly enjoy doing, much like curiosity, you can choose other ways to get to the same goals.

Let’s say you don’t like lifting weights, but still want to look good.

Do calisthenics and street workouts.

Or CrossFit.

Maybe you’ll then enjoy doing them more, leading to more intrinsic motivation to reach your fitness goals.

Similar with work.

If you’re a creator but don’t enjoy writing, try something different.

Focus more on video.

The good news is: We have all the options.

Purpose

This is a big one.

Your work has to serve a purpose.

Again a reason why most people dislike their jobs.

They don’t see the point in helping a company make money for a cause they don’t believe in or care about.

On the other hand, most (or at least some) entrepreneurs don’t only hustle for the money, but also to have a positive impact.

The interesting thing?

It doesn’t have to objectively be “a great purpose” like changing the world, it just has to be meaningful to you.

For example, compare these two business models:

1. Coaching

2. Dropshipping

Who’s going to feel more purposeful doing their work?

1. The guy having an impact on a few people’s lives

2. The guy selling bs from china to people he doesn’t know and care about at all

Yeah.

A feeling of purpose could just be the greatest motivator of all.

People relying on you.

The ability to make the world a better place through your own actions.

If you find real purpose in your work you won’t struggle with motivation again.

Autonomy

A much more practical one to end the list of intrinsic pillars.

Autonomy = Control of tasks and schedule

Simple:

In school, we were told what to do, so we hated it.

In business, we can choose what to do, when to do it, how to approach problems, how to schedule our days, etc.

So we love it.

I had a client who was happy with his 9-5 as he had full control over the projects he managed.

He could decide what and when to do his work tasks.

The gym, business, we love them because they provide autonomy.

If you’re not motivated because a boss is shouting at you all the time?

Better change jobs.

Because we need to make decisions for ourselves.

To fix your levels of intrinsic motivation, you have to take a goal you want more motivation in.

Let’s say it’s building a business.

Then run through the pillars:

1. Curiosity → Am I curious about business and the things I do?

   → If no, change fields
   

2. Mastery → Can I improve in different skills or have I reached the limit?
   → If you can’t, look for more challenges
   

3. Autotelicity → Do I love doing my work tasks?
   → If no, look for another work task to get to the same goal
   

4. Purpose → Is my work purposeful?
   → If no, that’s pretty bad, change course
   

5. Autonomy → Do I have control over my work?
   → If not, do something that you have control over

You might want to find something that ticks all the boxes.

Or at least most of them.

Thank you for reading!

See you soon,

~ Henri

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