The Secret of What Really Motivates You

There are truly some people out there doing some amazing work. Dan Pink used to be Al Gore’s speechwriter, but now he is a career analyst helping companies redefine what motivates their executives and employees. If you haven’t ever checked out TED talks, they’re worth getting into. Not all of them will “roll your socks up and down,” as my wife says, but you may find many of them really illuminating.

In this talk, Dan Pink discusses the secret behind what motivates us. In my past career, I was in sales and management, and the companies always provided heavy financial incentives and trips for doing well. Dan Pink says this is a less effective way of helping you approach your life to get the job done.

Research has found that this approach works for getting easy tasks done that require a narrow focus. Dan says that focusing on external rewards (e.g., money, trips, cars, etc…) actually kills the ability to think out of the box and be creative which is required for more difficult, conceptual and right brain tasks.

He suggests that what we need for motivation is a sense of autonomy, mastery and purpose.

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