Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
~ Desmond Tutu, South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop.
When everything appears gloomy around, we do need someone to hold our hand and steer us through despair and negativity to hope and positivity. We crave for inspiration, stimulus, or some sort of catalysis that could help us see clear light of the day. When we cannot hear our inner voice and our passion seems to wane, a ray of hope could provide us with a reason to start life afresh or turn over the leaf for a brighter future.
Despite all of the darkness, human spirit finds hope in even the minutest things, which, in a way or the other, promises to take us out of the gloomy environment. We need someone who could motivate us, or a sensory of subconsciously dominant cue that could instill positivity and enthusiasm in us.
Understanding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation is all around us; we just need to stretch our arms or implore our soul to allow it reach out to us. A person should embrace and follow anything that excites, inspires, or motivates him to put his best foot forward. Doing so will make him more confident and livelier, which he always wanted to be.
Positive motivation enthuses confidence among individuals with certain positivity, negative motivation, on the other hand, does the trick and delivers results, though a bit forcibly. Motivation has several other types and sub-types as well. If we consider its relevance with respect to goal setting and implementation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation deserve a mention for sure.
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation finds its origin in our internal desire, which inspires us to perform particular task/s. One can motivate himself by doing certain activities that could help him develop some skill or gives him pleasure. Such activities are so very vital to explore the literary, imaginative and creative side of one’s personality. When we are intrinsically motivated, we start enjoying even those tasks that we never thought we could do. Internal motivation makes us believe in our capabilities and accordingly, provides the required impetus to make even the toughest tasks seem easier.
Intrinsically motivated individual shows exceptional eagerness, curiosity and willingness to learn new things and implement the acquired knowledge in performing the dullest chores enthusiastically. A person brimming with self-confidence prefers going deeper into the task at hand or subject he is dealing with, which further makes that particular task more result-oriented and enjoyable. A person who is motivated intrinsically would see its repercussions on every task associated with a particular goal. Intrinsic motivation makes a person think that the task at hand is morally the right thing to do.
Extrinsic motivation
When we cannot find any reason or cause to motivate us intrinsically, we look for external factors that could help us stay on the right track. Doing so enables us to identify different elements, persons or ideas around us that could provide us the necessary impetus when we are feeling low about our existence. When clubbed together, external factors join forces to motivate us extrinsically; hence, we call this kind of motivation as extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation may include rewards, monetary benefits, and good grades for students or great ideas for anyone working on a project.
Such motivation does not always relate to the task, which is an integral part of a particular goal. What I mean to say is rewards, money or grades are just means to provide some type of inspiration, which may or may not have anything to do with the ultimate goal. Sometime people keep searching for incentives, recognition, or positive influence to ensure that particular task does not lose its charm. We cannot always ensure the gravity of our concentration and efforts unless some external factors or elements are there to make a task interesting, inspiring or enjoyable.
Using positive motivation
Positive motivation encourages you to move ahead as you are sure to get some reward once you achieve your goal. This type of motivation allows individuals to push harder and test their limits so that they could get even those results that they always thought to be beyond their capabilities. Let me explain this with an example. Parents who are not too sure about the intelligence or academic caliber of their kids often encourage them to get high grades by supplementing motivation with some sort of encouragement, such as promising to buy them a new play station or arrange a special dinner. Such motivation inspires kids to study more than they usually do so that they could achieve their goal of getting high grades.
Sometimes negative motivation also works
Negative motivation, on the other hand, begets similar results; however, while one provides it, he or she replaces encouragement with punishment. Such motivation sometimes prove even more effective than positive emotion since some people don’t consider even the most genuine reasons for doing particular task. If one, somehow, introduces the element of punishment to that task, chances are that such people would start taking it seriously. Rather than promising a dinner or a play station to your kid, try telling him that our proposed family vacation would stand cancelled if he does not get high grades.
Believe me – your kid won’t mind going the extra mile since he also has been waiting for that family vacation for so long. He would work even harder and try to impress you with his dedication and allegiance, and, eventually, pass any test with flying colors.
