Extrinsic Vs Intrinsic rewards

Extrinsic Motivation: Money, Status, Fame, Rankings, Likes, Comments, etc

The first question that comes when thinking about this is what is external motivation? The way I see it is anything that's outside of your body is an external motivation. Think about the reasons that I am writing this blog. I mean do I even get anything out of the blog when it comes to money. No absolutely not. But for me, I value creativity and that's why I feel its an important part in my life. Writing blogs. Moreover, when I write blogs and create instagram pages, I get some insights myself that I don't otherwise. So, there's a personal benefit that comes with it, but moreover it also satisfies my own purpose. It gives my life some sort of direction and value. So that's external motivation. What about people working in a job that only is 9-5. That sort of creativity in my opinion is more extrinsic. Something that's liked to fame, money, status, power, etc. I am sure both of these types of motivation is important. Without money you cannot really survive and live a comfortable life. Without status, you cannot feel as good as you can with status. So, money and status are important and having that motivation is not wrong. 

However, when I think about people like Ronaldo Vs Neymar, I get a very different view of it. I have heard Ronaldo saying that he wants to be called the best player in the world. For him, Money and fame, comfortable living, he's gone past all of that. But he still continues to become better. Going to the gym, going for training all of them are a part of his lifestyle. Whereas if you take Neymar, he told he does not want to play football to be the best of all. He's got the money he wanted, he's got the status he wants, but he said that in Brazil, people play not for money but for fun. That's their happiness factor. So he told that he does not want to be the next Ronaldo. Well, so he once done with the extrinsic, there was no intrinsic left in him to get better. 

Intrinsic Motivation: Feels good, happiness, stress reduction, peace, gratitude.

Now intrinsic motivation is going to be more lasting. Once you have gone past the money, status and fame part. You will ask if there's still more hunger? Look at Srk, he still has more hunger to be the best in the film industry. He's told many times in his interviews that he does not want act inorder to earn money, he just acts. He likes earning money from Brand Endorsements, and the business he does from KKR, or some other businesses where he has invested. So he earns more money from the business and that's why he says that he does not act for the money. Now, it's quite evident from the films that he does and selects that he actually cares about the business of cinema. He wants the film to do well. He wants to the film to be entertaining enough. But continuing day in and day out for over 20 years is remarkable. For such people I genuinely wonder if they are workaholic only for this or what's the internal satisfaction that they get. For Srk, he also confessed that he works in order to avoid depression. I feel that's normal too. Because what he means by avoiding depression is that he likes to feel good. He wants to work, because he feels good. He also said that he wants to keep doing what he does until the last breath. He wants someone to say action, and he dies and never wakes up again. Damn that would be so sad but well that's also something that he wants to do. So, it's one thing to say intrinsic motivation, but he also bought a beautiful bungalow called Mannat. If he never cared about the money how did he achieve all of this. He was definitely hardworking. He would smoke quite a lot. He is not very systematic either. The truth is that people love him. That is why he is so popular amongst the girls. He is witty, he is charismatic and makes people feel good. That makes him feel good also I think. So what's wrong? The intrinsic motivation topic is suddenly gone into an Srk topic.

I am going to talk more about this. I think the way to have intrinsic rewards is to timebox things that you have to do. For an example, you need to timebox your work. I started at 5:25 so I need to timebox my writing and continue till its 6:25. Nothing else really matters, you stick to it for an hour. Even if its tough, even when you are tired. The truth is you just need to stick to 15 minutes. The rest of the 45 minutes just comes on its own. That's why I feel silence and intrinsic rewards is so important. It is linked to focus. The end goal when it comes to intrinsic rewards is to feel good. Feel you have accomplished something rather than feeling, oh you should have done this or that rather than what you are doing. So it's about timeboxing and focus. Quite interesting. 

Structure: 

The most important thing with this is the structure that you need to maintain. A lot of times, I have seen that people with a structure get their deep work done early in the morning and then they don't really bother after that 90-minute session. It's an intrinsic reward for them. They don't really care about what day it is today. Will it be fun? Will I get the reward that I desire. Absolutely nothing. You will suddenly start to realise that it's not about anything else for them but maintaining that structure and through that structure they are able to produce great work as well. So, while things are going right and left, if you maintain a great structure, it's very likely that most of the things that affect the world, won't affect you. So, stay focused and maintain the structure at all costs. Personally, for me, I like writing for an hour or two and not finding its benefits today is also alright for me. But it's extremely important that I follow that structure for at least 6 months. Without that I won't be able to see any tangible results. There will be a time where things don't go as I want it to but that's alright. I need to get back to the structure and do the things that are required of me to do. After a weekend I enjoyed, I find it tough to get back to the structure. But the moment I get back to the routine, I start enjoying it as well. 

Instagram Posts: 

I was a bit skeptical about this. I actually wanted to create this instagram page through which I can share my knowledge. Although, I don't do this for the likes, I suddenly realized that when I post, I do care about who is seeing this post. I do care about who is liking this post. I do care if I the post is good enough or not. The point is, all of this is a way of external validation and in this process I have forgotten that I need to simply follow the process and let the structure work in my favour. So have the structure and don't break it in any case whatsoever. 

Becoming too rigid: 

A lot of times I find the problem that when there's structure, I also become extremely rigid. I am not open to trying out multiple things and that idea in itself is regressive. However, I also enjoy the process of writing in itself. I do like thinking about new ideas while I am writing. So there's a sort of intrinsic motivation that's involved out here. I have also suddenly realized that I have lost depth in the process. Although you know what, when I have that level of rigidity, I am also able to emotionally control myself in most of the days. Especially on days where I have work. The days when I don't have work, I need to find a process that works on those days but I believe having a structure on non-work days is also important. Some sort of structure. Need not be very specific. But there needs to be planning out there. 

Without structure you will break: 

The truth is that when you don't have structure, you will break. You will recognize that people are coming and telling you something and you cannot respond, but you are reacting. I have been in those situations and that's why I tell you this. When you have a structure, you will have a specific time that you will do self-care. You will have a specific time where you work. You will have a specific time where you will eat. All of these are important parts of your life as this is what teaches you to work well and grow from where you are. Rather than thinking about anything else. All of this is an important part of the growth in itself. I think structure certainly helps you to do deep work and progress. Even if it's not a linear progress, there's definitely progress. Imagine if you start doing 1 learning video per day, you will be able to do 365 learning videos per year. Now that sort of quality will make sure that you improve each and every day in your work. Moreover, even when it comes to soft skills, you can improve. When you are focused, you just focus on the soft skills and listen and talk to the person well. The magic formula out here is to do one thing at a time. Remember this quote that you will break without structure you will break and feel unfocused. Without focus, you will also feel unfulfilled. 

Skill building through structure: 

I know I have experimented a lot during the last few years. However, when I did not have structure, I never felt that I was progressing in building a skill. In fact, I felt like I am just doing this out of work. I was reactive. I was not proactive. But now, through structure, firstly, I can build the skills that I desire. I can also find more confidence towards what I am doing because somehow I have the ability to stick at a task for more than 1 hour. That in itself is motivating for me. One skill that I had built through structure was leetcode and till today that skill is there. If I just revise once, I will be ready for an interview. I know that's a life skill. 

Focused life is a happy life: 

The more things I do in life, I suddenly become dis-satisfied and unhappy. However, when I stay focused and keep doing what's required of me, I become more and more satisfied in life. I like how I live my life through focus. I practice discipline. It does not matter to me that I win or lose but that level of focus certainly makes me happy. Either at Gym or at work, focus is happiness. Now that's another Mantra to remember. Focus is happiness. 

Tempting: 

Every other day I do get tempted to live a life what others are living. Posting their pictures on instagram. Doing work that's shallow. Not being able to focus on the present moment. When you are focused, you can also speak well. It's one thing to speak, and another to speak well. So what happens is that we bring quality while speaking. There have been multiple times where I am tempted to use some other strategy that I will invent and that will magically work. Although I have tried multiple times, the strategy unfortunately for me does not work. I do like the idea of time block. Moreover, it's more comfortable for me and it's quite a simple strategy to follow when we are working. 

Courage: 

Now this is quite debatable point. Courage is something that we are always taught. Oh be courageous this that. But the question is what is courage? What's the difference between courage and stupidity? Let's say you fear going on stage. Which is stage fear. Now you are asked to speak about a topic on the stage. One thing is that you are going all in without any fear and you decide okay, you know what I will go and nail the presentation out there. What happens? You don't do well. Why because you have not prepared. So going to the presentation is courage, but not preparing well for it is stupidity. Now there are certain things that you cannot really prepare for. For example, there might be real life situations, where it's not very easy to prepare for something. For example, approaching girls. The only way to practice that type of skill is to actually do it. These skills improve over time as you talk to more and more girls. When you talk to girls, you will naturally recognize what's working and what's not working. You will know the social conduct. You will know how to make them laugh. You will know how to control your emotions. But that's a skill in itself that's practiced and mastered by actually doing it. Going for the first approach is actually courage. One mindset you should have in such situations is to make sure that you don't really care about the outcome. You think more about the process. You don't worry too much about the outcome. You know your opening line. You know your body language, and you simply go for it, without trying to be perfect, like you would do in the presentation. 

Stick: 

We've got to stick to something for a longer period of time. The more I recognize this, the better. A lot of times, I don't really stick to something for a longer period of time. I remember Srk saying this that when you stick something for a longer period of time, things do turn over. This was when KKR was losing in all seasons and suddenly they won 2 trophies in the next 3 years. It was a crazy turn around. Moreover, Shahrukh realized what he was doing wrong and started changing that. The moment you start changing something that you are not doing right, that's when things start to change. So one has to consider all of these things in life. The more you realize these things, the better. Now was KKR the best team when it comes to winning championships, maybe yes, maybe not. But were they becoming better each season maybe yes, maybe not. But when Gambhir came in, it brought a new sense of belief in the team that we can win. I think that belief in itself was motivating enough for the dressing room. Like we have said, belief is quite an important thing. For example, why has Pakistan never defeated India in the world cups. It's about the beliefs. India really has won such matches that seemed impossible to win. But they managed to win those because they believed that we don't lose to Pakistan in the world cups. That's a psychological advantage that India has. The larger the format of the game, more are the chances that India will win, because it actually becomes a game of skill and tactics at that point. 

Marginal Difference in skills: 

When you are at an international level, what's important is how you soak in the pressure. Do you go crazy, or do you think that this pressure can be managed well. Most of the cricket teams at the International Stage do have great skills in today's day and age. However, I would argue that India truly has the best players when it comes to skill. Australia also has great skill sets but Australia comes better prepared on big occasions and they are better when it comes to soaking the pressure in crunch matches. So, when it comes to high pressure games it's about which team soaks the pressure well. Skillsets in T20I games are almost equal. So, what we understand is that when you are having a structure, you will also have a better pressure handling skill. I would just say simply follow your structure and routine and let the rest of the things come in. 

The game is won by someone who absorbs pressure well. 

Now comes the main question: How can we be more intrinsically motivated. 

1. Remember everything else is noise: When we talk about intrinsic motivation, it should feel good. That's the main goal. Now when can we feel great? When we are masters at something. The goal is not be promoted, or do well in a particular area, the goal is to be a master of something. That's where you will feel great. The promotion, the money, the fame, etc is a noise. You will get all of it if you do this one thing correctly. 

2. Trust the process: Every now and then we want to change the process because something more attractive has come and is out there. However, what we really want to do is that we want to focus on the process and let all the other things come naturally. So you need to build a routine for that. 

3. Hang in there: There will be moments when you will feel the pressure. But the idea is to hang in there for a long period of time. I learnt that in cricket today, it was wonderful that we won the game very easily today. I played a brilliant knock making sure that our team is victorious. However, what I learnt during the time is that if I just stay silent and hang in there, I will be able to win the game for the team. Eventually, as I was in the crease, the ball became easier. I was able to time the ball better, I was able to think properly on where I want to score and everything else just flowed naturally. I realised how important it was to simply hang in there on the crease for a long period of time. 

4. Rewards: I personally do this. Whenever I do something tough, I reward myself with a starbucks frappe which I really love. This makes sure that I truly enjoy the process of working hard. It's like how we have reinforcement learning. We give positive reinforcement when we do something good and negative when we don't.

5. Body should feel great: The whole point of intrinsic rewards is that the body should feel great. Whenever your body, mind, heart, or anything of that sort feels great think that you are enjoying the intrinsic motivation. For an example, when we run and when we do exercise, our body releases endorphins. This release of endorphins makes one feel better.  Similarly, reading should have some sort of release. When we read something, we are really interested in and when we learn something new, our body releases dopamine. When we read fiction, we increase our empathy. Studies also show that 6 minutes of reading can decrease our cortisol levels. Reading also increases serotonin, which is our feeling of calm and peace. So, what I want to say is that reading is also associated with lots of intrinsic rewards. 

6. Break into meaningful challenges: Tasks that are too easy for us bore us. The ones that are too hard for us, overwhelm us. Set challenges that are hard enough to challenge you but not break you. This creates a flow state where motivation feels effortless. 

7. Find joy in the process: Instead of waiting for the end goal, look for moments of enjoyment in the process. For an example, if a developer enjoys solving problems, will feel motivated even when debugging tough code.