Motivation and reward: what is the link?

When you see something big being accomplished, you can be sure that the person behind all this is a person with a strong sense of motivation. What exactly is motivation? Motivation is said to be the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. To achieve their goals, they are willing to work hard and overcome any obstacles that come their way.

Without this motivation, you can never expect to achieve any kind of high level successes. There won’t be any scientific discoveries, we wouldn’t be building skyscrapers or sending the first man to the moon. Many of the achievements happened not because the person achieving it was the smartest or most talented; it was because they are the most motivated.

So where does motivation come from? Motivation can come from an intrinsic or extrinsic factor. Intrinsic motivation refers to a motivation that is driven by interest or passion for that particular subject itself. They don’t need external pressure to show interest in that subject. Extrinsic motivation on the other hand comes from the outside of the individual. It could be rewards like money or recognition. It could also come from coercion and threats.

So it goes without saying that reward and motivation, you can’t separate the both of them. Even from intrinsic motivation, the reward of it may be personal satisfaction from being able to complete the task to the best of your ability.

Real motivation comes from real goals, real passion and real desire. Therefore the first step in motivating yourself is to decide clearly on the reward you want to achieve. For example, when designing a skyscraper, not only you get monetary incentives from designing that structure but you also get recognition and fame from accepting that project.

When you know clearly what you want and how much you want it to happen, you can now take the next step. You can think of ways to make your dream happen. So get motivated and start achieving your dreams now!