Getting Motivated

What motivates you to get your work done? Is it the money you’ll earn? The recognition? Some internal satisfaction? It could also be your need for control or simple stubbornness.

Motivation can sometimes be reduced down to what’s called the “intention-behavior gap”. That would be that space or time between when you decide to do something and when you actually get it done.

So, what moves you to close that gap? And how do you do it?

According to some scientists, that motivation can stem from basic things such as pleasure, comfort, excitement, or even hunger. Or it could be something more abstract like purpose or that need for control.

So how do you close the gap? It depends on what sort of person you are.

According to Gretchen Rubin, creator of The Four Tendencies, how you close the gap depends on your tendency:

Upholders respond well to both inner and out expectations (you’ll do what it is you want to do either because you’ve decided to or because it’s expected of you by others)

Questioners who respond well to inner expectations but question and frequently resist outer expectations (you’ll do something only because you have decided to do it not because someone else has told you do so)