Motivation: Intrinsic vs Extrinsic
Let’s get motivated! Today, I share my personal story of how I became motivated to change my lifestyle, what the driving forces were behind my motivation, the science of different types of motivation, and we finish by discussing tools to maximize your own motivation!
We often talk about behavior change as the initial crux of making sustainable lifestyle changes. Whether it pertains to diet, exercise, or other lifestyle habits, there is always an element of motivation behind why people either do or do not do something. To set the stage for a discussion about motivation, I’ll share the story of how I came to make friends with motivation and how it led me to change my entire life.
When I was very overweight, smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day, and eating a diet that did not meet my needs, I wasn’t in a space to feel motivated to change. I told myself I was comfortable with the familiar discomforts I felt every day, while at the same time deep within I felt this desire to change. I understood some of the benefits of behavioral changes, however, I wasn’t motivated enough to bring myself to make changes. Stuck in a stasis, I lived in this strange purgatory until I found how to make friends with motivation.
The day I decided to change my lifestyle was like any other day. It began with my alarm going off much earlier than I would have liked, as my alarm was my cue that it was time to go work at my extremely unfulfilling job that I detested. I rose from my bed and greeted the day with my lovely smoker's cough, prompting me to head to the bathroom to remove the surprising amount of mucus now in my mouth. Wiping the crust from my eyes, I now engaged in my morning ritual of observing my body in the mirror with extreme contempt and disappointment, in the same fashion I had been doing since I was a young teen. All too familiar with self deprecation and loathing, I sulked into the shower to begin another day that would look painfully similar to the entire rest of the week. But today, something was different. I had been doing research online in the weeks leading up to today about behavior change, diets, and fitness routines, and how people had used them to change their lives and maintain lasting results. In other words, I had been stoking the fire of motivation that was inside me for a long time, and this was the day that the spark became a flame. The moment that was most crucial to me came while I was having my morning ritual of a cigarette and coffee. In this moment, I was observing my burning cigarette and was suddenly filled with extreme disgust.
Overwhelmed with the desire to never smoke again, that is what I decided to do. I immediately threw the cigarette away and was filled with a newfound sense of empowerment and self control, something that I would even dare to say was the beginning of a spark of self love. From there on out, I began to steadily implement lifestyle changes in the capacity that I had the knowledge for, and over the following 18 months I ended up losing over 100 pounds of body fat, abstaining from cigarettes, and permanently changing my lifestyle to this day.
What was it that allowed me to get the momentum to decide to make a change, take the first steps and actively incorporate change, and then sustain that change indefinitely? The answer: motivation.
Motivation is traditionally described in two different forms: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is defined as, “The doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence.” Essentially, engaging in an activity for the sake of your love of that activity. You do something simply because you love to do it.
In contrast, extrinsic motivation is defined as, “motivation that is driven by external rewards.” This is the kind of motivation that is most often capitalized on when we initially engage in behavior change. We want the weight loss, the money, the medal, the promotion, or the improvement in our physique. Extrinsic motivation is always reward oriented, which is why we will often do things we don’t inherently find enjoyable for the sake of the reward. That does not mean it is inherently “bad”. It is simply reward driven, which oftentimes is intensely motivating.
With this in mind, motivation is almost never strictly extrinsic or intrinsic only. It is often a mixture of both motivations that creates a behavior pattern or change. For example, you may love going to the gym for a myriad of reasons, some of them being purely for the love of it (intrinsic), and others for the physical and emotional rewards you derive from doing so (extrinsic).
Through the lens of behavior change, the combination of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is where we begin to determine what you are most motivated to change initially. Through these initial changes, the journey and exploration of motivation begins, and it is an ever evolving process of self-discovery and discipline building that leads us through different stages of behavior change, hopefully leading us one day to sustained behavior change (aka lifestyle change).
My own personal journey with motivation began with primarily extrinsic motivation. I wanted the weight loss, the improvement in my physique, the change in the way people looked at and treated me. Over time, as I implemented and sustained more behavior changes, my motivation led me to cultivate more self love and self care practices, and what once began as almost purely extrinsic motivation began to transform into primarily intrinsic motivation, unlocking the key to the longevity of my behavior changes.
With all of this in mind, here are my tips for maximizing the momentum you feel from intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to help you cultivate behavior and lifestyle changes:
Intrinsic Motivation:
Because intrinsic motivation is not reward based, start by thinking about things you love to do (Hobbies, passions, art, etc.) without a specific reward in mind. These are activities that bring you pure joy simply by doing the activity. Typically, these activities make us feel enlivened and inspired, which is a tremendously important tool to help us continue to stoke the fires of motivation
Carve out specific time for activities that you are intrinsically motivated to do and make this time non-negotiable if possible. Participating in these intrinsically motivated activities is a great form of self-care, and this is an expression of self-love. It will undoubtedly make you feel amazing!
Remember that intrinsic motivation is often mixed with extrinsic motivation (it’s almost never strictly one or the other). It can be useful in times when you are feeling rather unmotivated by the extrinsic side to remember the intrinsic reasons you participate in a behavior or activity (It makes you feel good, it brings you joy, you always show up better for others when you do versus don’t)
Extrinsic Motivation:
Extrinsic Motivation burns hot! It can be here today, gone tomorrow. You can capitalize on this best in the initial stages of any form of learning, behavior change, or lifestyle change. This form of motivation helps us move through the initial fear, discomfort, or uncertainty we may be experiencing. Focusing on the reward or outcome can keep us resilient and consistent when we need it most
Keeping records, tracking data, or measuring progress in any way helps us remain extrinsically motivated. If we have tangible results, it shows us that what we are doing is working, and we want to keep coming back for more results!
Creating goals and effectively managing them (more to come on this in another blog!) helps continually stoke the extrinsic motivation fire, because it allows us to regularly celebrate progress at predetermined checkpoints towards our long-term goals
Remember that extrinsic motivation is reward oriented, so especially in activities or behaviors that consist of rewards, but even in activities or behaviors that you may be primarily intrinsically motivated to do, rewarding yourself when warranted will help to sustain your overall motivation
Hopefully you can use these tools to help maximize your motivation towards whatever your personal goals and aspirations are!
With all my heart and precious time,
Noah
