Science shows there's a hidden motivation switch located deep in the brain that unlocks a level of motivation more powerful than money, praise, or fame—one that practically forces your brain to crave doing the hard work you keep putting off.
Picture this: you've set your alarm early, determined to start the day right. When it rings, you hit snooze repeatedly. Last night's enthusiasm has already evaporated, and the blanket weighs you down like a concrete slab. The day ahead feels like an enemy to avoid instead of a challenge to conquer.
At your desk, the cursor blinks, and your to-do list stares back at you. You know you should work, but something inside you just won't cooperate. Lunch comes and goes, and you tell yourself you'll start soon, but the afternoon finds you lost in distractions, chasing trivial tasks while the important ones loom large and untouched. The day ends, and the weight of what you didn't accomplish settles in. As you put your head on the pillow, you feel the sting of disappointment, having fallen short of the potential you know you're capable of—one more day.
If you experience this sort of depletion in drive, know this: you're not lazy. Procrastination isn't the problem, and there's nothing abnormal about you. The problem is more than a lack of motivation. Rather, the issue is that you lack a specific type of motivation, which we're going to cover in a moment. We'll also cover a number of science-backed solutions for how to create limitless motivation to do even the most difficult, laborious work.
Extrinsic motivation comes from outside, like money, status, and praise. If your fuel is extrinsic, you act for the sake of a reward. Extrinsic fuel works but wanes. For the brain, anticipation is more rewarding than attainment. Dopamine, which enhances focus and motivation, surges as we anticipate something and plummets upon that thing's attainment. Think of extrinsic rewards like fossil fuels—they come from forces outside your control, offering only a temporary boost, and unfortunately, they eventually run out.
Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from within. It's made up of elements like curiosity, purpose, and mastery. If your fuel is intrinsic, you act for its own sake and win with or without an external reward. You listen to the song to enjoy the song, not to finish listening to it. Think of intrinsic motivation more like fusion energy—the dominant source of energy for the stars within our universe. It's self-sustaining, long-lasting, and incredibly efficient.
Intrinsic fuel works better than extrinsic fuel and it compounds. It makes hard work easy, leading to an upward spiral of skill development and access to flow state, that optimal state of consciousness where we lose ourselves in deep immersion within our work. Extrinsic motivation can get you started, but it's intrinsic motivation that keeps you going.
- Curiosity
- Mastery
- Autotelic
- Purpose
- Autonomy
Curiosity is the insatiable itch to learn everything you can about your work. Without it, work ends when you leave the office. With it, work is like reading a book you can't put down.
Without purpose, you're in the proverbial rat race, trading your life for a paycheck in some faceless company that exists just to make money. When purpose is present, you're willing to make sacrifices because the work is a cause you care about.
Mastery is the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement. Without this drive, you do just enough to get the job done. With it, you're like a musician who keeps practicing even after the concert's over.
Autotelic is derived from Greek words meaning "self-purpose." It refers to activities that are rewarding in themselves, done for their own sake rather than for an external reward.
Autonomy is the feeling of being in control of the when, how, and what of your work. Without it, you feel trapped, like someone else is pulling the strings. With it, you choose what project to work on, how to work on it, and what time of day you do the work. Your work is truly your own.
High levels of intrinsic motivators release performance-enhancing neurochemicals like norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine, and they also lower cognitive load. These mechanisms enhance focus and drive flow state, where we feel our best and function at our best.
The intrinsic motivators get you into flow, but flow itself then compounds your intrinsic motivation. This virtuous cycle means that the more motivated you become, the more flow you get. Since flow is the epicenter of intrinsic motivation, it compounds your motivation even further, leading to more flow, and the cycle continues. This is why titans of industry like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos can sustain extreme motivation for multiple decades straight.
To boost your curiosity motivator:
- Leverage learning: Ensure that the knowledge you gain has a positive impact on your work.
- Seek immediate feedback from learning: This involves seeing the direct consequences of your applied learning in real time.
To increase your mastery:
- Identify all the skills and subskills that will advance your long-term goals at work.
- Learn and practice those skills explicitly with deliberate practice.
To enhance your autotelic motivator:
- Focus on what you are good at, as you have innate strengths that make certain tasks feel less like work and more like play.
To amplify your sense of purpose:
- Distill your life's mission into one laser-focused sentence.
- Identify how each work task links to your purpose.
To increase your autonomy:
- Zoom out and place your current work within a broader life trajectory that you are shaping and controlling.
- Develop "FU" skills, networks, and knowledge that allow you to pursue other options at any given moment.
As you upgrade your fuel source from extrinsic to intrinsic, you make it easy to pinpoint the reasons for dips or surges in your motivation. Even through life's natural turbulence, when your motivations are aligned, you will be eager to engage with work every day. Eventually, you will be able to check in with each of these five intrinsic motivators as easily as you can feel your own heartbeat and course-correct as needed.