If you're like many people in the world today, you have probably had moments in life when you felt no passion. Work seemed boring. Your life seemed to be an adventureless routine. Your performance lagged and your ability to innovate wilted. One of the reasons people sometimes hit this wall is because they have been trying to live on the basis of extrinsic motivation rather than Intrinsic motivation. Let me explain the difference between the two.
Extrinsic motivation is when something outside of you--circumstances or people--determine your choices and action. Your boss might require you to work late. To avoid being fired, you follow his orders and do what's required even though you would rather go to the baseball game with your friends. Another form of extrinsic motivation might be the pursuit of money. You might work in an uninspiring job just because the salary is good.
Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, comes from your heart. It's a natural motivation that already exists in you. Think of something you're really passionate about. Where did that passion come from? It's just there. It's natural to who you are. In an imperfect world almost everyone has to do some things even if they lack the natural passion. Hey, we all have to clean our bathrooms and shovel snow. But the problem with extrinsic motivation is that it eventually drains our emotional batteries, which then leads to reduced performance.
So what's the moral of this story? It's easy. When you're setting goals and making decisions, make sure that you are intrinsically motivated. Then, when you run into barriers and obstacles that everyone encounters, you'll be able to power forward and never look back.
