Motivation

What motivates you to do whatever it is that you have to do? I'm no psychologist, but I reckon that what motivation boils down to - and this really is the driving force behind any sort of motivation - is reward and punishment. Achievement = Reward; failure = punishment. It's a pretty simplistic perspective, but I think that it is true. Here's what I mean:

I know that when the rubbish bin gets full, the [thought of the] smell of the overflowing rubbish is enough to get me to remove it from the house. When I know that we are expecting company, I am very motivated to put a bit more elbow-grease into scrubbing the floor-tiles. When I have a project due at work by a particular deadline, the thought of not getting it done on time is a good motivator.

Sometimes you set yourself rewards: if I get this done, then I'll reward myself with a rest/fun activity/bag of peanuts/stiff drink. It takes a bit of self-control not to give yourself the reward before you actually complete the task. For example, it is not a good idea to take that stiff drink just before you mow the lawn. Your prize azaleas might not be so understanding.

Kids, however, are motivated differently. They don't understand the true consequences of not getting something done on time or not doing something properly - so you have to invent consequences that they can comprehend. For example, we are (still) in the middle of renovations. The kids love to play in the piles of sand that the builders have left outside. They take out their toy cars and trucks and build roads and bridges. It keeps them occupied for hours. But they don't realise that if they leave all their toys outside, the builder might just scoop them up and make them a permanent part of the foundation. Their motivation to clear away the toys starts and ends with, "If you don't clean up your toys, you are not getting an icy-pole" (or, "If you clean up your toys I'll give you each an icy-pole"). There you go. Food. Something they can relate to. Very simple.

What about us adults? When you have something that needs to be done, what is the motivation for doing it well? Is the motivation that your boss will say, "Good job!" Is the motivation that you won't fail in completing that task? No the motivation is exactly the same as the kids', "If you do a good job you will get a bonus/not get fired". There you go. Money. Something we can relate to. Very simple.

My motivation for writing this blog entry is that this is my 50th post and I wanted to get at least this far. Unfortunately, there is no money involved. Maybe I'll help myself to an icy-pole...