Module 10 · Motivation & action · Lesson 2 of 6

Inner and outer reasons

Doing something because it matters to you, or because of what it gets you — and why both count.

7 min read · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Intrinsic motivation is doing something because it is interesting, meaningful or enjoyable in itself: reading because you love the story, running because you like how it feels. Extrinsic motivation is doing something for what it brings: money, grades, approval, avoiding trouble.

Both are real and both are useful. Most things we do mix the two. A job can be done for the salary and also for the satisfaction of doing it well. Extrinsic rewards can get you started on something that later becomes intrinsically rewarding.

Research on motivation suggests people tend to sustain effort best when they feel some choice in what they do, a sense of growing competence, and connection to others. Where a task lacks all three, adding even one — choosing how to do it, noticing your progress, doing it with someone — can change how it feels.

Why it matters

Knowing why you do something helps you keep doing it. If the only reason is external, the effort often stops when the reward does. Finding or building an inner reason makes it sturdier.

See it happen

Pieter studies accounting mainly because his family expects him to. He finds the courses dull and struggles to study.

The first read

Since he never chose accounting for himself, he assumes he will simply have to force his way through it until he graduates.

With this idea

He looks for inner reasons: he enjoys solving puzzles and helping his uncle’s small shop. He starts studying with a friend, and applies each topic to the shop’s books. The subject has not changed, but his reasons for studying it have grown.

What changed

He added his own reasons — competence and connection — to an externally chosen task.

Easy to get wrong

• Believing only intrinsic motivation is “real”. Working for money or security is legitimate and often necessary.
• Assuming you must love something before you start. Interest often grows with skill.

What this rests on

Well studied. Researchers have studied this a good deal. The core idea holds up, though details vary between people and settings.

• Edward Deci & Richard Ryan — self-determination theory — A large body of research on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and on autonomy, competence and relatedness as needs that support motivation.

Try it: Inner and outer

1. Pick something you do regularly but struggle with.
2. Write the outer reasons you do it, and any inner reasons.
3. Write one way to add choice, a sense of progress, or connection to it.

Reflect

• What would you still do if nobody paid you or noticed?
• Which of your efforts depend entirely on an outer reward?

Use it in the coming days

Change one thing about a task you find dull this week — how you do it, who you do it with, or how you notice progress — and see if it feels different.

Where to do it: My Journal

Writing why you do something helps you see whether its reasons are yours.