mental models 30 thinking tools that  separate the average from the exceptional

improved decision-making logical  analysis and problem-solving written by

peter Hollins narrated by Russell  Newton copyright 2019 by peter Hollins

production copyright by peter Hollins

Quality is not an act, it’s a habit - Aristotle.

What Is Motivation?

You’ve picked up a book about motivation,  

but let’s assume for a second that it’s not  all that obvious what motivation actually is.

Is motivation an emotion or more like a thought?

Is it a life philosophy, an  attitude, or the way you’re born?

Could it even be a human need, or a  moral code of conduct for living life?

Look at the world and all the  things people push themselves to do.

Why write a book?

Why go for a jog this morning (and every morning)?

Why climb the mountain, travel to  Turkey, learn Braille, go to therapy,  

get a degree or take up watercolor painting?

By reading this book, the idea is to hone in  on a new way of answering the above questions,  

especially as they play out in your own life.

More than that, you’ll be able to  use your accumulated understanding  

and insight into how people  are motivated to act toward  

great things, and apply your new  knowledge toward your own goals.

Motivation is behind everything we do—it touches  on who we are, what we want, what we believe.

Few topics get so quickly to the heart  of the human condition, and allow us  

to look so deeply into why we do things (or  don’t do them!), how we generate curiosity,  

satisfaction, achievement, and power for  ourselves, how we make meaning for our lives,  

how we set challenging goals and learn  the skills needed to achieve them,  

how we cultivate our creativity, regulate our  emotional worlds and take all those millions  

of single steps that make up the long, long  journey to a life that’s genuinely awesome.

Motivation is something that’s often associated  with performance, athletics, sports or perhaps  

the business environment when people need to be  roused to work hard toward financial targets.

But mastery of the mechanics of motivation  can help us in so many more ways.

If it involves thinking, feeling,  or behaving/acting in the world,  

then a good understanding of underlying  motivation will add useful insight.

This book differs from some you might have  read before - when we study “motivation  

science” we are trying to marry theoretical  understanding with concrete, practical action.

Changes to behavior and habit.

Changes to attitude.

Even, in the case of exercise goals,  changes to your very physical form.

Anything You Want.

If the question is how to attain what you  want, then the answer is probably motivation.

Let’s put it this way - motivation  will not make you achieve every grand,  

glittering goal you can dream up, or catapult  you into untold fame, glory and achievement.

But on the other hand, no goal—not a single  one—was ever achieved without motivation.

The focus of this book will be  empirical and action-oriented.

We call it motivation “science” because it’s  supported by peer-reviewed research, testable  

hypotheses and models of human behavior that we  can critically assess for their real-world value.

In other words, it’s about doing what works.

When you hear the word “motivation”  you may imagine a cheesy speaker  

on a stage with too-white teeth  telling you to aim for the stars,  

or bland images of inspirational quotes and  people doing fancy yoga poses on Instagram.

In this book, however, we’ll be  holding ourselves accountable to  

a more rigorous intellectual  framework of understanding.

We’ll adopt only those ideas and  theories that are well-supported,  

logically sound and, most important  of all, demonstrate real results.

We’ll also abandon any pet theories that don’t  

stand up to proper scrutiny—no  matter how much we like them!

Why does anyone do anything?

The answers will be as varied as  the people we’re talking about.

We do things because they’re  intrinsically enjoyable…

or because we’re paid to…

or because we feel it satisfies our needs to…

or because we feel guilty if we don’t…

or because we believe doing  so will lead us to our goals.

Each of these motivations  is drastically different.

If we want to boost motivation, we  have to have a careful understanding  

of what motivation really  is, and what’s driving it.

What Is Motivation?

Let’s start not with an inspirational  quote but with some useful definitions to  

narrow down exactly what we’re talking  about when we talk about motivation.

We can say that motivation is the collection of  psychological forces that allow us to initiate,  

organize and persist with behaviors that will  ultimately lead us to the achievement of a goal.

Every time you act, whether  it’s socially, emotionally,  

biologically or otherwise, something caused  that action—i.e. something motivated you.

Once an action is instigated and planned out,  

motivation also helps to keep it  going, for however long it takes.

Psychologists have dozens of theories  to explain why we do what we do.

Whether they talk about instincts, or drives,  or urges, and whether the motivation comes  

from inside you (intrinsic motivation)  or from outside (extrinsic motivation),  

it all comes down to the same thing - something  in us desires a change from the current state.

In Johnmarshall Reeve’s  seminal work on motivation,  

Understanding Motivation and Emotion,  this desire for change is a source  

of energy that riles us up to actively  engage with our surrounding environment.

It may be taking up exercise, starting  a meditation discipline or committing  

to a daily language lesson, but whatever  it is, it’s filled with the energized,  

goal-oriented action that solves problems,  thinks creatively, and gets things done.

Intrinsic goals come from our needs as  individuals—goals can address physiological  

needs (health, physical mastery,  comfort), but also psychological,  

social or emotional needs (like self-esteem  or a sense of meaning and purpose).

But of course, we don’t exist in a vacuum,  

and the world we live in also motivates  and directs our behavior from the outside.

Most activities, when you think about it,  are a blend of both intrinsic and extrinsic  

motivators—we may act because of our deeply held  values and principles, but these themselves may  

have been heavily impressed on us by our  history and our particular environment.

Human beings only act when that  action is perceived as meaningful,  

relevant, correct or beneficial in some way.

And humans arrive at these assessments  internally, driven by their own goals,  

their own needs, and their  own values and principles.

Though it’s true that the external threat  of being fired certainly “motivates” people  

to work hard at their jobs, the  decision to actually work hard,  

the internal justification,  is still a personal one.

It follows, then, that motivation  doesn’t exist where there is no  

meaning behind the task, no true value,  no real relevance to the person involved.

Any manager dealing with an uninspired  and apathetic workforce knows this—you  

can’t force motivation any more than  you can force love or interest or care.

It has to be genuine.

And this leads us to another aspect  of learning about motivation—i.e.,  

how we can influence and understand people  around us and the way that they behave.

It makes sense that in order to inspire or  encourage someone to act in a certain way,  

you need to acknowledge and align with their  own innate, genuine needs, goals and values.

Influence is not the same as force—it’s more about  appealing to natural forces already underway.

You can coerce someone with aggression, but  you can never make anyone want to do something  

they don’t want to do—otherwise the entire  field of advertising would be unnecessary!

The concept is simple - motivation  has to come from within.

By seeing what motivation is, we  also learn what it isn’t—the use  

of force or aggression to control  someone or get them to comply.

You may have some success  treating yourself this way,  

but any changes to behavior will be short-lived  and you’ll hate the process the whole way.

A person who is voluntarily and  willingly acting according to their  

own interests… isn’t that the same  as an overall happy, healthy person?

In other words, what’s the difference  between motivation and plain old happiness,  

or inspiration, or some other emotion?

While these are all excellent areas to explore,  

this book will focus on only  a specific set of questions.

Let’s look at what motivation isn’t.

“Happiness,” contentment,  well-being, etc.—the truth  

is that you could be extremely happy but  not particularly motivated to do anything.

Likewise, you’ve probably known  yourself to be motivated to act  

without feeling like rainbows  and puppies at that very moment.

Though it’s usually the case that many  positive feelings follow an achievement  

of a goal, this is best thought of as  a consequence and not a pre-condition.

Let’s look at another obvious one—isn’t  what motivates most people simply money?

Actually, money is more like an incentive  than a true motivation (remember,  

motivation must genuinely address  inner needs, values and goals).

It’s true that in today’s world, many activities  don’t require authentic enthusiasm and deep  

motivation—to simply be incentivized to do  boring admin at work, for example, is enough.

Money is a factor, but it is not the factor.

Economic necessity cannot replace  sincere enthusiasm and desire.

Though it’s a great stepping-stone and can  certainly boost a temporarily flagging drive,  

it doesn’t lead to true satisfaction.

Why?

Because it’s external and superficial,  

whereas the satisfaction that comes from  real motivation is internal and lasting.

What about “inspiration”?

How does that differ from motivation?

Despite first appearances,  they are not interchangeable.

Inspiration is fleeting, unpredictable,  and largely out of our control.

It just strikes us out of the blue one day,  and we’re usually clueless about its origins.

We suddenly feel moved by a touching speech,  

or energized by some hopeful prospect,  and we’re so fired up we’re buzzing.

But this is not the same as motivation.

Why?

For the same reason that money isn’t—it’s  purely external and superficial.

Inspiration is flimsy.

Easy come, easy go.

Motivation, on the other hand, builds slowly,  day by day, one honored commitment at a time.

Motivation is conscious,  deliberate and hard-working.

It’s the thrilling feeling of reaching down inside  

yourself and creating something strong  and valuable—something to be proud of.

Inspiration, on the other hand, is like a flash  from the gods, a little flicker of potential.

Cool while it happens, but nothing substantial.

Inspiration can certainly instigate a  deeper motivation, but without patience,  

focus, hard work and all the rest,  it’s just feathers on the breeze.

When you look at a motivated person, they  seem filled with passion and inspiration.

But it’s a mistake to assume that this  emotional state is the cause—really,  

it’s the effect of their motivation.

Some managers think of motivation as a “push”  factor—something that compels people to act,  

whether it’s punishments, rewards, or  incentives—whereas inspiration is a  

“pull” factor—something that encourages you  to reach further, and go beyond yourself.

Many successful authors and creatives will  say that inspiration is basically worthless;  

all that matters at the end  of the day is what you do.

How many words you put on the page.

How many reps you do in the gym.

How many times you put one  foot in front of the other.

Different theorists have different  takes on the subtle differences,  

but there is a place for both the flash  of excited vision…and the dedication to  

sit through the steps required  to bring that vision to life.

There is a place for firing  up your heart and soul,  

and wanting to act toward some grand  masterplan, but it will not amount to  

anything unless it’s also paired with  dogged determination and good habits.

Head and heart.

Hope and pragmatism.

The perils of believing that either one alone is  enough can be seen in a common example - a person  

sees a friend losing weight and becoming  extremely fit, and they feel inspired.

What a great idea!

They want to do the same thing!

With all that passion and energy, they embark on a  new goal, and set to work devising an action plan.

Within two months the energy has completely  fizzled and they’re back at square one.

Uninspired.

The problem is obvious - pure  inspiration is not enough.

The reverse situation is the boss who  offers plenty of perks and good pay,  

but asks his employees to do 100 percent  meaningless, soul-sucking, and unchallenging work.

The problem is also obvious  here - not enough inspiration.

We’re not teasing apart these  subtly different definitions  

just for fun—instead, when we can see  exactly what we mean by “motivation,”  

we give ourselves a clear theoretical starting  point, and lay the groundwork for true insight.

Inspiration is also what it  feels like to be motivated,  

to have a goal, or to imagine achieving it.

It’s a subjective, experiential state.

Motivation, on the other hand, has more  to do with our thoughts, behaviors,  

beliefs, attitudes and ultimately behaviors.

It’s what we choose from an  empowered and conscious state.

Obviously, there is some overlap.

Motivation and emotion are strongly connected.

Emotions are our conscious experiences,  our reactions to events and situations,  

our inner state of being.

But when we remember that achieving our goals  often has the side effect of positive emotions,  

emotions themselves can be a  motivator for future behavior.

In this way our emotional state and our  motivation can reciprocally reinforce one another.

The result of goal achievement, then, is not  just the intrinsic value of the goal itself,  

but also the feelings we derive from that  goal, as well as the positive reinforcement  

to our confidence and self-esteem  when we achieve what we say we will.

Science, History, And Biology.

Ever since humankind realized we had the  ability to consciously choose how to act,  

we’ve wondered about our deeper motivations.

Philosophical traditions looking into  the nature of motivation have considered  

our biological drives and intuitions, the  emotional and psychological reasons for this  

or that behavior, and the environmental  causes behind an individual’s actions.

Some theories attempt to cover all these aspects.

The philosopher Aristotle was fond of the  topic, and one of the first to propose a  

formal breakdown of the (he believed  four) different types of motivation.

Many of the ancient philosophers were similarly  concerned with moral and virtuous action,  

the good life and what it meant to live  properly and to one’s fullest human potential.

The idea was to restrain undisciplined,  wayward impulses of the heart that would  

derail you from your chosen, rational goal, and  seek a balanced, serene middle path through life.

Hard work, patience, humility, rational thought  and resilience were seen as key attributes for  

the well-developed human being, and motivation was  essentially the fuel needed to drive that project.

Not all of the Greek philosophers agreed—the  Hedonists and to some extent the Epicureans  

believed that all human beings were motivated  toward maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

Here, “pleasure” could also entail  emotional, spiritual or social rewards.

According to this belief, to motivate yourself  to achieve a goal, all you need do is ensure that  

the process of achieving actually feels good,  in some way—or at least, it feels better than  

the alternatives (we’ll see later on that this  original theory has a sound physiological basis).

Later on, many analytical European philosophers  ran with various threads of the motivation debate,  

including the likes of John Locke,  Thomas Hobbes, and Jeremy Bentham.

Their theories can be boiled down to many of the  same ideas we’ve encountered in this book - people  

have multiple reasons behind their actions, but  it’s uniformly our understanding of this cause  

and effect relationship, and the anticipation of  a desired consequence, that drives our behavior.

Queries into motivation have seeped  

into far-reaching intellectual  corners all through history.

Freud famously claimed that our motivations  are hidden from us in our unconscious mind,  

and we are all driven by hidden  sexual and aggressive instincts  

that are repressed out of conscious awareness.

Freud was responsible for much of the framing  of human motivation as a “drive”—i.e. more  

akin to a biological urge that could be  dangerous if not channeled correctly.

Current psychological research is  more holistic and a little kinder.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, for  example, suggested that people  

were motivated to act according to needs that  corresponded to their level of development.

Someone with all their material and survival  needs met will be motivated to attain other,  

higher needs, such as those for self-esteem and  mastery, or love and belonging with other people.

The person who is freaking  out about their next meal,  

however, is naturally going to be  motivated by very different incentives.

Similarly, H. A. Murray claimed that there were  

innate personality differences  in what motivates people.

People could be motivated to  act toward needs of achievement,  

affiliation (i.e. love and companionship with  others), autonomy (independence), dominance (the  

ability to control self and others), order or  understanding (including curiosity and reason).

Other continental philosophers have suggested  

a more existential slant to  understanding human behavior.

Humans act, many theorists believed, because they  seek to create meaning, to live purpose-driven  

lives, or to feel and express a sense of  control over themselves and the world.

In many ways, Darwin’s theory of evolution  is a complete and comprehensive study  

of not just human motivation, but the  motivation driving all life on earth.

We don’t have the time or space to  consider the complete history of  

motivation theories in this book,  but hopefully you can agree that  

the topic is a lot more complex  than it appears on the surface.

You may be wondering why philosophers and  psychologists (and yes, unfortunately,  

marketers and politicians) have been so  obsessed with this aspect of human nature.

You may be wondering why you should care about it.

The answer goes beyond “you need  motivation to achieve your goals.”

Think of it this way - you  only have finite resources  

in this life—limited time, energy, money.

If you are motivated, you use what  resources you have in the best way possible.

With a laser-like focus on  your goal and a practical,  

organized way to achieve it, you  naturally become more efficient.

Why fritter away the time and energy you have in  life to serve other people’s agendas or goals?

Why waste the one precious life you  have on distraction or avoidance?

Knowing exactly how to reach your  goals is actually two rewards in one -

a. The reward of achieving the end goal in itself.

b. The reward of knowing you can  do it, and all the confidence,  

pride and satisfaction that  comes with this achievement.

People who know how to work with  motivation are more productive,  

more resilient and more solution-oriented.

Have you ever seen someone accomplishing  impressive feats and wondered, Wow,  

how the hell do they do that?

Well, it’s not a superpower.

These super-achievers have simply tapped  into their own personal source of motivation.

You have your own source too—and plugging  into it is what this book is all about.

Once you’re on a path of motivated,  self-disciplined living, you may even  

start to realize that it’s not all  that much about the goals anyway.

When your entire body, heart and mind  are enthusiastically tuned toward the  

fulfilment of one inspiring goal, it’s  as though you’re fired up and come alive.

These are the people who bounce out of  bed in the morning, busting with energy.

When you’re motivated, things just flow.

You may get tired, sure, but somehow  it doesn’t seem to bring you down.

With a strong sense of autonomy and purpose,  

you start living a life that is  richer, fuller and more passionate.

You care about something—and  that’s energizing in itself!

When you understand how good it feels to  claim your innate right to self-determination,  

you’ll feel happier and more content—not  because you anticipate a positive reward  

for your behavior, but because the  path itself has become enjoyable.

You enjoy the process of improvement  itself, relishing your own growth.

What could be more inspiring  than watching yourself achieve  

the little goals you set for yourself every day?

What a wonderful antidote to depression and  

anxiety—to really know and internalize  the fact that change is always possible,  

and that today can be better than  yesterday, even if only incrementally.

This positive attitude will spill over into  everything you do, far beyond your chosen goal.

A good attitude is infectious,  and attracts great people to you.

Being positive, motivated and internally  driven, you encourage and inspire others,  

inviting people to respond to you  with the same enthusiasm and zeal.

As you develop a more solid work ethic,  your self-confidence will deepen,  

and you’ll learn what it means to make  a commitment, to others and to yourself.

You’ll take good care of time and resources, and  become more organized—and you may discover that  

those around you are inspired by your attitude  and more willing to help you on your path.

Why does motivation matter?

Because your life matters—your dreams,  your potential and your desires matter.

And the best way to achieve them is with an  empowered, focused approach that takes action.

This is not just fanciful theory.

Successful people the world  over, in every walk of life,  

have found it’s motivation  and hard work that pays off.

There is a famous anecdote about the golfer Gary  Player, who was practicing when someone commented,  

“I’d give anything to hit like that,” and  Gary replied instantly, “No, you wouldn’t."

He then went on to explain what he had  given already—the endless hours of blood,  

sweat and tears, the millions of  practice strokes, early mornings,  

bloody bandaged hands... Our culture  is obsessed with the genius or the  

overnight success, the person who hits the  jackpot easily and without breaking a sweat.

But what Gary Player was saying was clear  - he wasn’t born Gary Player either.

He had to work for it.

Leonardo da Vinci devoted the bulk  of every day of his life to painting,  

and only had his big break at forty-six years old.

He painted the whole way, day in, day out.

Famous authors like Toni Morrison squeezed  in their writing alongside full-time jobs.

J. K. Rowling wrote in the  evenings and before sunrise.

James Joyce is estimated to have  spent approximately eight hours a day,  

seven days a week writing Ulysses.

Elon Musk doesn’t cite any fancy early  training in either business or rocket science.

He claims he just “started reading  books” and followed his own motivation.

When footballer Tom Brady told his family he would  be a household name one day, they laughed at him.

He carried on anyway.

He says, "What are you willing to do and what are  you willing to give up to be the best you can be?

You only have so much energy and  the clock ticks on all of us."

He wanted to be a footballer,  and he gave his life to that end.

Pure, complete motivation and dedication.

With motivation, you take a hold of your  life and shape it according to your will,  

your purpose, your passion.

You dig deep into the things that  really, truly matter to you and  

take that fire out into the world to  build something bigger than yourself.

And you do it in tiny, incremental  steps, every single day.

This book is intended to help you figure out  

exactly how to become more  motivated in your own life.

We’ll be looking at practical,  effective techniques to make  

sure you’re acting strategically toward your  goals, squeezing the most out of your effort.

If you’re already feeling motivated, this book  will help you boost your enthusiasm to new levels.

But if you’re struggling to find your own  inner power and purpose, this book can  

help you tackle low motivation and have you  feeling inspired to put in the work, today.

At the end of every chapter, we’ll condense down  the key points to reinforce what we’ve covered.

By the time you finish reading the last page, the  hope is that you’ll feel spurred to take real,  

meaningful action in your own life—not just  for today, but for the rest of your life.

Summary -

•Motivation is the collection of psychological  forces that allow us to initiate, organize and  

persist with behaviors that will ultimately  lead us to the achievement of a goal.

There are several ways to  conceptualize what motivates us,  

but these can broadly be characterized  into intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.

Intrinsic motivators derive from our  own desires and needs, as we feel an  

inner desire to accomplish certain goals, while  extrinsic motivators come from external sources.

•Motivation is distinct from related  concepts like happiness and inspiration.

One can be happy but not  motivated, and vice versa.

The impulse that makes you do something  isn’t the same as the feeling of euphoria.

Similarly, inspiration itself can be  a motivator, but while inspiration is  

short-lived and unpredictable, motivation needs  to be cultivated through discipline and action.

Inspiration can also be a result of  motivation instead of the other way round.

•Throughout history, different people have  espoused different reasons and goals behind  

our motivations, and these have all culminated  in the modern understanding of the concept.

Aristotle was the first to recognize  that motivation results from internal  

cognitive processes, while those like  Locke and Hobbes recognized our desire  

for a particular consequence as what motivates us.

Freud ventured into the subconscious  territory of our brain to postulate  

that hidden sexual desires  are behind our motivations.

Today, frameworks like Maslow’s Hierarchy of  Needs dominate our understanding of motivation.

•Though motivation is a complicated concept,  

the reason it’s so important is that we have  finite resources for achieving our goals.

By harnessing our power for motivation,  we can be more resilient, more productive,  

and more goal-oriented in an effort to get what  we want and incorporate the habits we desire.

No goal has ever been achieved without  motivation, and if you have large,  

long-term goals, motivating yourself  is the only way to pull them off.

Chapter 2 - The Science Of Motivated Action.

Self-knowledge is the great power by  which we comprehend and control our lives.

•Vernon Howard

Let’s begin by getting a firmer grasp  of the theory behind motivation.

We’ve briefly considered the older philosophical  

models that first tried to  conceptualize motivation,  

but from here on, we’ll mostly work within a  more contemporary, psychological perspective.

There are three main psychological  theories explaining motivation.

If you’ve ever read anything on motivation before,  

it’s likely that it touched  on at least one of them.

A psychologist would agree with  the definition we started this  

book with—motivation is the collection of  psychological forces that allow us to initiate,  

organize and persist with behaviors that will  ultimately lead us to the achievement of a goal.

Because there are different  types of need (for example,  

psychological or physiological), some theories  focus more heavily on one than the other.

Humans are messy, though (or should we say  “complex”?), and our behavior is likely caused  

by many different driving forces, both intrinsic  and extrinsic, that address a range of needs.

Therefore the three theories we’ll look at  shortly are not competing, but complementary.

How do we put it all together?

Our needs, the surrounding environment,  thoughts, emotions, desires and behavior…?

This is where we need a simple model.

Let’s consider an example.

Your friend invites you to a yoga class  and while there, you really enjoy yourself.

The class has an effect on  you—your stress levels drop,  

your body fills with endorphins and you  feel socially connected to your friend.

Since you have a need to feel good  and socialize positively with others,  

your perception of the various  benefits comes together to create  

a desire to want to act to sustain  this feeling, or get more of it.

This alters your behavior, and  you sign up for more classes.

This example sums up the  general motivation process.

Antecedent (pre-existing) conditions in our  

environment can have effects on  our emotions, thoughts and needs.

We interpret these and build  an urge for more (or for less,  

if we want to avoid a painful condition).

We are then energized and  directed to act toward our goal.

It’s simple - environmental  stimuli can shape our motives,  

which express themselves in goal-directed action.

When it comes down to it,  

there’s a big difference between can and  will—and that difference is motivation.

You can have all the right conditions  set and all the competencies needed,  

but you won’t achieve anything  unless you are motivated to do so.

Without that crucial middle step—the one  where you generate the urge to move toward  

or away from something—you  remain stuck in inaction.

We can either be pulled by the promise  of the future or pushed by the past,  

but one way or another, effort is required.

Crucially, we all experience motives, but  not all of us set goals (or achieve them).

If you haven’t eaten in a while your hunger  is certainly a strong physiological motive,  

but it isn’t fulfilled until you make  a concrete plan about how to act—i.e.,  

you have a goal (get your  hands on a sandwich urgently).

Motivation is what allows us to cross  the divide between could and did,  

between potential and actual.

Generally, the motives, urges and desires  that serve to sustain life (food, water,  

shelter and yes, sex) are push motivators.

We drink water to avoid dying of dehydration,  

pay our taxes to avoid going to jail,  or wear a sweater to avoid getting cold.

Those things in life that would be nice to have  

but aren’t strictly necessary  are often pull motivators.

We delay gratification, devote ourselves to  a discipline and work ultra-hard for these  

more abstract rewards of pride, achievement,  satisfaction, and even the less noble but no  

less motivating force of simply wanting  to boast or be better than someone else!

What about a person who decides to embark  on training to become a doctor, for example?

What’s motivating them?

It could be push factors to sate  more physiological needs (doctors  

earn boatloads of money and always have  job security) as well as pull factors  

(such as wanting to impress others,  to personally overcome the challenge,  

to serve the community, or simply get  nagging family members off your back).

Such a person could be driven by a whole  cocktail of motives (feelings and thoughts  

about what being a doctor means) as  well as incentives (the hefty salary,  

respect and admiration from others) and even the  desire to avoid unpleasant outcomes (such as, uh,  

disappointing a mother who  wants you to be a doctor).

We can understand our final resulting actions as  

the outcome of a mix of interacting  causes—internal and external, push  

and pull, positive and negative, physical,  social, psychological or even spiritual.

The way we act is the sum of these influences.

Three Primary Theories.

Let’s dive into the theories.

Though some ideas on motivation  seem complicated on the surface,  

most of them boil down to  one of the following themes -

Instinct Theory.

“I act because I have an  inbuilt, fixed impulse to do so.

These behaviors evolved because they help me to  satisfy my basic needs and survive in the world.”

Examples -

Someone acts in self-defense to protect  themselves from a dangerous intruder.

A bird migrates to a warmer climate.

Instinct Theory. was at its heyday in  the 1920s but is now largely relegated  

to evolutionary and genetic research  rather than complex human behavior.

Drives And Needs Theory.

“I act in order to meet my various needs.”

Example - Someone chooses a big meal at  a restaurant after not eating all day.

It’s also been hypothesized that people act  

to reduce the inner tension  created from an unmet drive.

These don’t necessarily have to be drives for  survival—for example, a person may have a strong  

drive to eat a big meal even though they’ve  scoffed three big meals already that day!

The biological motivation is there,  yet it’s uncoupled from survival.

Arousal Theory.

“I act to maintain an optimal state  of arousal for me, personally.”

Examples -

Someone goes to a theme park with friends to  alleviate boredom and do something exciting.

Another person comes home from a  hectic day at work and immediately  

has a hot bath and a glass of wine to wind down.

Most of the reasons why we do things can be  explained using one or all of these theories.

Why work?

To earn money.

Money helps with survival (instinct theory)  

but also satisfies other needs  (such as self-esteem and pride).

We might work to avoid the pain of unemployment,  

while also working to enjoy the pleasure of  being appreciated, praised and recognized.

We could have chosen our line of employment  

because it suits our energy levels  and temperament well (arousal theory).

We could stay in our jobs because we strive to be  excellent, accomplished (or even more altruistic)  

people—but we also put up with the daily  drudgery that comes with that job out of guilt.

Whether we desire power, fame,  financial reward, personal passion,  

philanthropy or personal development, our  deeper motivations for any behavior are  

likely to be explained very basically  by one or more of the above theories.

Let’s take a closer look.

Instinct Theory.

As we saw above, instinct theory  suggests that, as biological organisms,  

humans have innate drives to behave in ways  that increase their chances of survival.

Think about the instinct of, say, running  in terror from something seriously scary.

This is something that you do spontaneously  and automatically, without being taught,  

and it can certainly be thought of as  goal-oriented (the goal - don’t die!).

Furthermore, instincts are broad patterns of  

behavior - every animal in a species  shows the same instinctual patterns.

All dogs shake when wet.

All babies show a suckling instinct and all  mothers show an urge to care for their offspring,  

regardless of their historical period or culture  (or how impossible their child is being…).

In other words, your desire for food, water,  sex, or safety is not much different from  

another animal’s desire to lay its eggs on  the beach or migrate south when it gets cold.

Even the tiniest human infants show instincts  to move toward the breast to suckle, or grasp  

tightly onto an offered finger.

William McDougall was the original instinct  theorist when it came to motivation,  

and claimed that three things made up an  instinct - perception, behavior and emotion.

Other prominent theorists wrote about  the power of instincts to drive behavior,  

including Freud, who theorized that  there were only two main ones - the  

life instinct (everything  life-affirming such as sex,  

food and social behavior) and the death instinct  (aggression and the impulse to self-destruct).

The psychologist William James  identified several instinctual emotions,  

which themselves occur universally in  humans without learning, and are there for  

our survival (think of instincts to hygiene,  anger at a violation, shame or even love).

From this viewpoint, instincts  are biological imperatives.

They serve a real, practical purpose.

Organisms act simply because  their instincts tell them to.

It’s in their genes.

Though the idea makes some sense, you can  probably see why these theories largely fell  

out of favor some decades ago - they don’t  explain all human behavior—not even close.

Instincts are hard to measure or observe,  and even if we identify an instinct,  

there are still times when the  instinct actually isn’t displayed.

On the flipside, this theory doesn’t explain how  

we manage to do things that  go against our instincts.

These include activities that are tedious, boring,  

dangerous and generally tasks that  we avoid but recognize the need for.

This could be studying extensively before a test,  

completing difficult tasks  that seem intimidating, etc.

It’s hard to believe that  any natural instinct could be  

behind our motivation to do any of these things.

Moreover, even if we could attribute  some instinct for every behavior,  

this doesn’t tell us anything about  why or how these instincts motivate us.

As such, this theory leaves no  way for us to motivate ourselves.

We’re stuck waiting for our natural instincts to  

motivate us through processes that  we have no deeper understanding of.

The modern, more humanistic approach to  motivation is that although biological  

instincts play a role, more complex  and sophisticated behaviors also come  

down to our conscious human response to  events, and our individual differences.

While this model may help us understand more  “basic” behaviors, it’s less useful to explain  

why someone would, for example, seek out dangerous  situations, develop anorexia or adopt a child.

By the definitions given above, so much  of human behavior simply isn’t universal.

Some mothers kill their children.

Some people commit suicide.

If you try to list right now the behaviors that  all human beings worldwide engage in automatically  

almost all of the time, you’d be left with a  very small percentage of total human behavior.

Nevertheless, instinct theory is not useless.

Some theorists claim that in humans,  the instinctual impulse is universal,  

but its expression can be changed according  to environmental forces such as culture.

The world modern human beings  live in is a far less physical,  

animalistic reality—though humans might have  started out as primarily instinctual beings,  

most would agree that we’ve evolved  significantly more convoluted motivations since.

Drives And Needs Theory.

As our understanding of what  human beings really want expanded,  

so did our theories to explain their motivation.

If it’s not just instincts, then what else  exactly is compelling people to act as they do?

Ask a mother why she had a child and she  probably won’t say, “My biology compelled me."

More likely is that she will talk about love, of  the journey of motherhood, of her psychological,  

familial, cultural and even financial, political  and spiritual reasons behind her decision.

The idea of a psychological need  expands the human repertoire to more  

than just running from saber-toothed  creatures and prowling for a mate.

While you would certainly die without food, water  or shelter, isn’t it also true that you need love,  

purpose, creative expression, meaningful work and  so on to be happy and healthy as a human being?

Psychological needs are many and multilayered,  and can vary somewhat between individuals.

Human beings need to feel achievement at  something in life, to feel autonomous and  

independent to make their own unique decisions,  to have somewhere they belong socially,  

to have a sense of order and control over  themselves and the environment around them,  

and to be able to ask questions so they can  learn and understand the world they live in.

Some of the current trends have  pushed these psychological needs  

further—don’t human beings also have higher needs?

The so-called existential needs speak  to our yearning for purpose and meaning,  

for a rich, self-determined life,  

and a satisfactory answer to the question  of who we are and what we’re doing here.

Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs theory  seems to explain how humans are indeed  

motivated to fulfill all of these needs—including  physical, psychological and emotional/spiritual.

His idea, though, was that not all needs  were the same; i.e., there is a hierarchy.

Maslow’s theory can be envisioned as  a pyramid with the most urgent and  

necessary needs forming the base, and the less  urgent, more abstract needs resting on top.

Our most primal, basic motivations are  (necessarily) geared toward satisfying  

those needs that form the basis of our survival.

These important needs come before any  others—simply because nothing else can be  

considered if you’re starving, freezing to death,  or under threat of immediate attack, for example.

This means that the higher  needs—i.e. for love and belonging,  

self-esteem and recognition, and  finally full self-actualization,  

in that order—are not met until the  supporting needs are sufficiently satisfied.

Physiological needs - food, water, warmth,  sleep, sex, shelter from the elements

Safety needs - enough money, physical and  personal safety, good health and well-being

Social needs - feeling love and  belonging, friendship, intimacy

Self-esteem needs - respect,  achievement, social recognition,  

a sense of contribution, status, attention,  prestige, self-respect, independence, confidence

Self-actualization - realizing full  human potential, unique striving  

for meaning and purpose, state of  conscious development and growth.

To be “actualized” is to make your full potential  a reality, whether it’s to be a great parent,  

businessman, artist, athlete, philanthropist, etc.

For Maslow, all levels below self-actualization  come from “deprivation”—i.e., they are overcome  

in order to avoid the unpleasantness  of not having them fulfilled.

The final level, however, is a growth need  (or what others may call a pull factor)  

that comes from an inner desire not simply to  avoid pain, but to be a better human being.

Maslow believed only 2 percent of the  population ever achieve self-actualization,  

but their characteristics included acceptance of  self and others, spontaneity, humor, an objective  

and neutral attitude to reality, creativity,  solution-focused instead of self-focused, unique,  

altruistic, appreciative of life, ethical,  private and fair-minded (to be fair, Maslow  

only based this on the traits of his personal  favorite handful of white, wealthy Western men).

Whether you agree with the needs listed  or their order, or even with the claim  

that one cannot tackle higher needs  without lower ones being met first,  

there is still plenty to  be gained from this theory.

For instance, what kind of needs  dominate your life currently?

Do you need to satisfy some more immediate  concerns before you can achieve loftier goals?

Again, our needs and drives interact with  one another to produce final behavior.

If your external incentives and challenges  strongly compel you to do something,  

you’ll probably do it even if  your internal motivation is weak.

Similarly, you will likely act even if external  

incentives are lacking if  your inner drive is strong.

If both inner and outer forces are weak,  though, there’s simply no reason to act.

As people move up the hierarchy,  they may find themselves engaging  

less and less with external incentives,  force, necessity and physiological urge,  

and motivated more by the desire to grow, to  develop, connect, and aspire to higher ideals.

As we move up the pyramid,  time scales change, too.

Physiological needs tend to  be immediate and short term,  

whereas higher goals concern longer time periods.

We can further understand Maslow’s hierarchy in  

terms of classifying needs  as either traits or states.

A need can be a temporary state of  being (e.g. you’re hungry right now,  

so you need to eat) or a trait  or fixed characteristic (e.g.  

you generally need a fixed amount of  food every day, over your lifetime).

What all this theoretical complexity comes  down to is simple - needs and drives of  

all kinds are powerful motivators,  and inform much of our behavior.

The many strands explored in  this theoretical framework  

prove how multifaceted humans themselves are.

You may have a personality that predisposes you  to a high need for independence and autonomy,  

but you didn’t exactly have this  attribute as a three-year-old,  

and you mostly feel this way at work or with  friends, and not with romantic partners.

You may have many high-minded goals for yourself  that include doing charity work, creating  

meaningful art or contemplating the universe in  general, but it all goes out the window if your  

blood sugar’s low or you’re a few weeks behind  on rent and the landlady is knocking at the door.

You may have strong sexual physiological  needs that you nevertheless routinely  

suppress because of the family  and culture you were raised in.

You may dislike your work most days,  

but still do it because you’re quite  partial to the hefty salary you get.

You may not be bothered to make lunch  if you’re only a little peckish,  

but if the intensity of that hunger goes up,  you’ll eventually cave… unless you’re also being  

nagged by hungry kids who want to eat now, in  which case you could be persuaded to act sooner…

The drives theory is thus at odds with,  yet very similar to the instincts theory.

The latter claims that we are  motivated by universal drives,  

that we desire to manifest something  we feel instinctively inclined toward.

The drive theory, on the other hand,  

says that we’re motivated by a desire  to neutralize the drives we experience.

When we feel hungry, instinct theory says that we  

eat because the sensation of hunger  gives rise to an instinct for food.

The drives theory would claim  that we eat because we want  

to get rid of the sensation (or drive) of hunger.

It’s a subtle difference, but one motivation is  positive, while the other is negative in nature.

However, in both cases, we’re being motivated  by need and impulses that we don’t control.

The point of the drives theory is, we’re all  unique, and biological, social, emotional,  

psychological, and self-actualizing needs exist  in a complex environment with constantly changing  

incentives, limits, cultures, and people with  their own respective needs and behaviors.

However complex we make the theory  about human drives and needs,  

one thing remains the same - our final  behavior will always be the sum of the total  

forces—internal and external, push and  pull, from all levels—that act on us.

Arousal Theory.

Let’s consider one more prominent  

theoretical thread—the role of  individual arousal in motivation.

This theory states that people act in  order to maintain the perfect level  

of arousal for themselves, and what is  optimal differs from person to person.

“Arousal” here basically refers to the overall  physiological level of stimulation we experience,  

which affects the way we process information,  

how stressed or overwhelmed we  feel, and how well we perform.

The idea is that humans do what they do to try  to balance out their energy and arousal levels.

If you’re bored and feeling down,  you might do something exciting or  

stimulating like go out to a club or have a run.

If you’re fed up, overwhelmed, or have had “too  much” you might compensate by taking a nap,  

or spending quiet time alone with a book.

It doesn’t really matter what  actions or activities we do,  

only that we perceive them as having  an effect on our stimulation levels,  

and act accordingly to keep  ourselves in a healthy equilibrium.

One person’s exhilarating activity could  be another’s relaxing afternoon, or someone  

might love high-energy antics—but only up to a  specific point, at which they become draining.

The main idea is that all behavior  comes down to the management of a total,  

single quantity called physiological arousal.

Why does someone write a book, commit a  crime, choose the burger and not the salad,  

take up Jiu Jitsu or bail on  a friend’s birthday party?

This theory’s answer is that, in some way, these  actions brought the people doing them into a more  

comfortable level of arousal, whether by  spiking their arousal or calming it down.

Rather than acting to reduce  the tension that comes with  

mounting unfulfilled drives (i.e. the  drive-reduction theory of motivation),  

this theory suggests that action is  corrective and maintains overall homeostasis.

The ideal arousal level varies not just  between people, but within individuals,  

and can be shifted by environmental factors, life  experience or just the mood you’re in that day.

One important aspect of this theory  is its claims about performance.

Increasing arousal levels generally increases  performance, but only up to a point, beyond  

which they inhibit performance—this  is called the Yerkes-Dodson Law,  

which was defined in the early 1900s.

What’s more, high-level tasks are more  sensitive to optimal arousal conditions  

than more mundane tasks—you can do simple  tasks well even half-asleep, for example.

If you’ve ever written an exam, you already  understand this phenomenon—stress a little and  

you’re alert and focused, stress too much and  you start to forget things and make mistakes.

Again, however, what counts as the ideal  amount of arousal varies between individuals.

And the ideal arousal level for each activity  differs—you need a whole lot more arousal just  

before you step into the boxing ring than you  do before you perform delicate brain surgery.

Naturally, many variables other than  the nature and complexity of a task  

affect this relationship, including how  skilled you are ordinarily at the task,  

your overall personality (are you very anxious  generally?), or your confidence levels.

What does this theory mean for those  wanting to improve their own motivation?

If arousal (i.e. motivation) is too low, your  efforts should be focused on raising it—inspiring  

action, practicing self-discipline,  improving self-esteem and training.

If you’re overly anxious, however, your approach  should actually be to bring arousal down.

The counterintuitive result is  that less pressure may actually  

make such people perform better in the long run.

This is a perfect illustration of why  we need to understand the theory behind  

motivation before attempting to optimize it.

By digging into the deeper mechanisms of our own  motivation, we can understand ourselves and our  

behavior better, and give ourselves the chance to  make effective changes that actually work for us.

This is the aim of the next section.

Theories Into Application And Practice.

We’ve covered a lot of theoretical ground  in this chapter, but now is the time  

to see just how all these ideas  can be put to practical use.

The following section boils it all down  to three actionable steps you can take  

right now to enhance your own behavior,  performance and satisfaction in life.

Each of these steps comes from the three  broad theories we’ve discussed above.

Working with in-built instinct  (following your intuition)

You’ve heard of “trusting your gut."

It’s that visceral, inexplicable feeling that  

makes you feel like you “just  know” what you’re meant to do.

Whether in love, work or money, respecting  our innate instinctual feelings can pay off.

But there’s nothing mystical about any of it.

Instinct is nothing more than the ability to  rapidly perceive cues and patterns and act  

spontaneously without any deliberate or  conscious realization that you are doing  

so—and it’s a phenomenon that’s been researched  by everyone from economists to microbiologists.

How can we use in-built instinct  to become better people?

This fast, emotional decision-making style is  so prominent because it helps humans survive.

In fact, many theorists from Kahneman and Tversky  

to Malcolm Gladwell believe most  of our decisions are made this way.

The idea that emotions cloud decision making  may be backwards—it could be that rational  

thought and justification follows long after  we’ve already decided what we want to do.

Though intuition certainly helps, it can  also hinder, and many of humankind’s worst  

biases come in when we follow automatic  assumptions without further reflection.

Biases can include believing that we have all  the information needed to make a decision,  

ignoring information that doesn’t support the  beliefs we already have (confirmation bias),  

believing we had better knowledge in the  past than we really did (hindsight bias),  

or putting more weight into recent  events than more distant ones.

The secret may be to combine both reason and  intuition—you can certainly listen to your gut,  

but it doesn’t have to be a one-way conversation!

Don’t take your own judgments at face value.

Really slow down to analyze the facts in  front of you, objectively and comprehensively.

Intuition is the unconscious appraisal  of information—and it’s often right.

But using it together with your slower,  more rational mind gives you the best  

chance of making a decision that  will have the optimal outcome.

Start with intuition and go from there.

Put into words your vague  feelings, and look closely at them.

“I just know we’re meant to be together”  could open the way for understanding that  

you’re simply experiencing strong  physical chemistry, for example.

When you dig deeper and give yourself the chance  to tally up previously ignored information,  

you might come to the decision that  eloping to Vegas with the person you  

just met is probably not the smartest  idea—even if your gut is telling you to!

The trouble with labeling an impulse a “gut  feeling” or “instinct” (in the lay sense) is  

that it doesn’t really explain or mean much—it’s  just a description, and a weak one at that.

Your gut can be wrong, plain and simple,  

and you won’t know it’s wrong  unless you examine it more closely.

Your instinctive mind is a valuable  asset, but so too is your rational,  

slower and more analytical thought process.

If you’re trying to make a decision,  immediately ask your gut first.

Ask trusted others too—the “group gut” is more  

powerful than we give it credit  for—before you make a decision.

Then, ask yourself whether  your instinct is rational.

So if you feel that you’re “meant to be” with  someone, consider whether there are any actual  

indicators of compatibility and ensure you’re  not just assuming this based on your feelings.

Think it over, but don’t  spend too long overanalyzing.

A good-enough decision is often better than  wasting time chewing over things endlessly.

Match your caution to the size of  the decision—if it’s something small,  

reversible and largely inconsequential,  

you’ll probably gain more in experience by  simply acting, even if you’re a little unsure.

Practically speaking, here’s a decision-making  checklist to cover all your bases -

1. Have I paid attention to  the information and what my  

gut is saying, or am I rushing to  a conclusion because I’m anxious?

2. Am I using my “gut” as an excuse  to not examine my real motivations?

3. Will my gut feeling change  if I engage my rational mind?

4. Is my gut feeling really just  fear or the opinions or others?

5. Do I actually have enough  data to make this decision?

Once you’ve done a more thorough analysis,  you can ask your gut a second time.

If all else fails, “sleep  on it” is excellent advice.

This is especially useful when you  have to make decisions while you’re  

in a heightened emotional state,  like when you’re angry or upset.

In such scenarios your rationality  can easily become distorted,  

and delaying the decision gives  you space to assess your options.

Trust your unconscious mind to work on the  problem and look at things afresh in the morning.

Working with compassion—know your  needs and the needs of others

An easy way to be more compassionate and  

understanding is to begin with  a consideration of human need.

Using a needs model like Maslow’s  hierarchy, for example, we can  

approach ourselves and others with a respect  for the level of need they’re operating from.

A Chief Executive Officer might understand  that he cannot expect high-level,  

innovative solutions from his employees  if he they’re constantly worried for  

their financial security—or worse, work in  an environment that undermines their safety.

Similarly, a teacher can communicate differently  with students if he can tell that one has a high  

need for affiliation and approval while the  other strongly desires autonomy and control.

In relationships, we can be kind with our  partners when we realize they may be acting from  

unmet needs—and we can work to help get them met,  rather than being frustrated with their behavior.

It’s true that many have disagreed with  Maslow’s rankings, claiming for example  

that many materially impoverished families  nevertheless do not feel unfulfilled socially,  

lack self-esteem, or ignore the higher  artistic, spiritual or philanthropic pursuits.

Similarly, many people have almost all their needs  

met early on in life and never go  on to achieve self-actualization.

Nevertheless, the hierarchy  can help us prioritize needs,  

whether we’re understanding our own  behavior or trying to appeal to others.

When you realize that you’re  underperforming because you  

have a vitamin deficiency or are sleep deprived,  

you open the door to practice self-compassion  and self-care—plus you improve your performance.

Many people feel profoundly  unfulfilled and empty in life,  

despite having enormous  material wealth and safety.

By understanding that their more advanced  needs aren’t being met, they can redirect their  

attention to where they are truly unfulfilled,  for example by reaching out to others socially,  

choosing a more challenging career or project,  or seeking spiritual or personal growth.

When you frame behaviors in terms of  needs, you are tackling things directly.

You can ask yourself routinely, What  needs are unfulfilled at the moment?

How can I satisfy them?

When dealing with others, you  can ask the same question,  

quickly dissolving misunderstanding and conflict  and getting to the root of the problem—i.e.  

that people behave as they do because  they are trying to get their needs met.

Understanding needs can even lead  to more creative problem solving.

If you are experiencing a lack in one area, you  can lean more heavily into another temporarily,  

for example drawing on friends and  family or even tapping into your  

religious beliefs to help you get though  a health challenge or financial setback.

Maslow strongly believed that it was no use  studying pathology and mental illness—rather,  

we could learn more about mankind’s full potential  by studying those most fully developed people.

In the same way, you can look aspirationally  ahead to the needs you have yet to fill,  

and be inspired and motivated to go beyond  yourself and realize your full potential.

These theories work very well in the workplace.

If you’re managing or leading  people, ask what their needs are,  

and how they’re going about meeting them—this  will help you communicate with them better,  

as well as incentivize them most effectively.

This tactic also works in social  relationships of all kinds—remember,  

it’s not what you perceive to be the person’s  need, but what they perceive it to be.

It’s the felt experience, and  not any “objective” reality,  

that determines a person’s  perspective and behavior.

In both work and personal life, Maslow’s  theory teaches us that nobody is a robot.

We are all multifaceted beings with all kinds  of needs, and a harsh workplace culture that  

doesn’t consider its employees’ range of  needs will likely alienate or distress them.

When you’re making a decision or tackling  a problem, ask the following questions -

•Running through all my needs, what am I missing?

•Are my needs being met in my relationships,  my career, my community and so on?

•Am I doing enough to understand  the needs of those around me?

•What action can I take right now to  start addressing my most pressing need?

•What really matters to me, not  just immediately, but in general?

•What would self-actualization look like for me?

•What unmet needs are holding me back  from pursuing this full potential?

Working with arousal—are you  stressed, pressured, or motivated?

Most of us tend to think of stress as a uniformly  bad thing in life, but the arousal theory suggests  

the key is finding your optimal level of  stress rather than eliminating it entirely.

How can we use the Yerkes-Dodson Law to live  more productive, healthy and happy lives?

You’ll need to answer a few key questions first -

•What is your unique optimal level  of arousal, generally speaking?

•How complex and familiar is  the task you’re trying to do?

•What are your skill levels and  competencies relevant to the task at hand?

•Is stress and pressure in your life  improving your performance or undermining it?

Stress, pressure and motivation  can be understood as more or less  

the same quality, only at different intensities.

Importantly, it’s your unique perception  of this intensity that matters.

There are tests available to ascertain  your level of stress and decide whether  

it’s too high or low, but a formal test  is not strictly necessary—you may be able  

to detect insufficient arousal levels  by noticing disengagement or boredom,  

or diagnose excessive stress by the fact  that you always feel completely burnt out.

Your goal is to find that sweet spot -

With an unchallenging and  boring task and no time limit,  

your performance is likely to be average at best.

With a task that challenges  you without overwhelming you,  

at a tight but doable deadline, you’re  “stressed” enough to put in the work and excel.

With a task that’s unfamiliar, extremely  difficult and way beyond our comfort zone  

and skill level, you’ll do  poorly or give up early on.

From this theory’s point of view, the  secret to finding optimal motivation  

for yourself doesn’t lie in you,  it lies in the nature of the task.

If you want to inspire yourself, your job is to  

closely match your temperament and skill  level with the difficulty of the task.

Counterintuitively, it’s people  who stay comfortably in the middle  

zone who excel in the long term—those who are  insufficiently aroused never amount to anything,  

while those who are too aroused risk burning  out, quitting or seriously losing confidence.

Practice self-compassion, but  temper it with the understanding  

that a little pressure now  and then is good for you!

If you’re feeling undermotivated in life,  

consider whether it’s because you  are not really challenging yourself.

Raise the stakes a little.

Light that fire.

Be honest if you’ve become sloppy in your work or  taken things in your personal life for granted.

On the other hand, it’s probably  true that most of us in today’s  

demanding world suffer from excessive  rather than insufficient arousal.

If on reflection you feel like life is  grinding you down, there’s a lot you  

can do—without necessarily quitting work  or running away from responsibilities!

Firstly, find ways to increase your  sense of control over what you do.

Empower yourself by asking what you can  change and focus on that—stress tends  

to melt once you pause and take a moment to  consider all the options actually open to you.

Secondly, try to bring more authenticity to life,  

whether it’s in your hobbies,  relationships or work.

Speak your mind and express who you really  are, and much of life’s pressure seems to ease.

Nothing is quite as draining as the  effort needed to be who you aren’t.

Break tasks into smaller chunks, slow down,  and give yourself intermittent rewards.

Quit the self-criticism habit.

Remember that the difference between  stress and pressure is simply one of  

degree—take your tasks and dial them back a bit.

Make sure you feel competent with one activity  before progressing to the next, more complex one.

Recognize when you are feeling overwhelmed,  

confused, or panicked and take a break  to restructure the task in front of you.

Mindfulness, positive affirmations, visualizations  and simple deep breathing can help, too.

Finally, though it might seem ridiculous,  

use ritual and even superstition to boost  your own confidence, focus and performance.

A little prayer, a lucky coin or  a special routine before a big  

decision or challenging task can  actually have surprising effects.

Sports psychology research done in 2010 by  Cotterill and colleagues found that simple  

rituals like crossing the fingers actually  had a notable effect on performance—go figure.

Summary -

•There are three main theories  of motivation - instinct theory,  

drives and needs theory,  and personal arousal theory.

We can use our newfound knowledge  of all three to guide our actions.

•According to instinct theory,  

our actions and behaviors are governed by  universal impulses deep within our psyche.

We exhibit these behaviors without being taught  to, and all animals express them in similar ways.

There are different ideas of what exactly an  instinct is, but generally they are considered  

biological urges that serve a particular purpose  and help us survive and thrive in the world.

•The drives and needs theory is similar in that it  

claims our behaviors are motivated  by certain needs, such as hunger.

However, while we have instincts to do  particular things, our needs give rise  

to certain drives that aim to fulfill our needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs effectively  summarizes the various needs a person  

has throughout his life and which  ones are more important than others.

While this stratification of  importance varies between people,  

Maslow’s pyramid is a good way to recognize our  needs, and thus working toward fulfilling them.

•Arousal Theory. claims that we all have an  optimal level of arousal, also called homeostasis.

This arousal can stem from a variety  of emotions such as happiness,  

stress, anger, satisfaction, etc.

All of our behaviors are aimed at achieving  or maintaining this optimal level.

While too little arousal is obviously bad,  

too much can be harmful as well because both  inhibit our performance and motivation levels.

•We can use all three theories  together to maximize our own  

motivation - trust your gut feeling but  temper it with more rational thought;  

consider your needs when dealing with  yourself and others; make sure that you’re  

hitting the Goldilocks zone where arousal  is concerned—not too little, not too much.

As you utilize all three frameworks, remember  to constantly break down large tasks into  

smaller parts, get enough rest, and to  take breaks when you feel overwhelmed.

this has been motivation triggers  psychological tactics for energy

willpower self-discipline and fast action

written by patrick king narrated by russell newton

copyright 2020 by patrick  king production copyright

by patrick king