Motivation is the psychological driving force that makes you productive in order to achieve your goals.
It is the fuel that fires up your desire for success and helps you want to do all the hard work to get closer to your dreams. It is the feeling that makes you want to go through the process to reach your desired objective.
Every person needs motivation to strive for more in life and achieve greater feats. Whether it’s about exercise, work, or your social life, you’ll always need motivation to excel in any of those fields.
So what are the different types of motivation? And how does it help us live a productive life?
If you want to achieve success, then you need to learn these different types of motivations in order to achieve a happy and productive life.
11 Different Types of Motivation
Reward
A reward type of motivation is a motivation that makes a person want to do work, as there will be a reward after the work is done. A motivation like this helps the person do all the work, as they know it’s going to be worth it afterwards, as they are going to receive or achieve a certain reward.
An example of this is a person working out in a gym. The person knows it will be a long and strenuous process of working out, like lifting weights, but it’ll all be worth it, as he will achieve his desired results of gaining muscles.
If you need motivation to do hard work, always know that everything you’ve done will pay off, as there will be a reward waiting for you on the finish line.
Fear
Fear based motivation is a kind of forced motivation where you have to finish your objective, as there will be consequences if you fail. This type of motivation prevents you from quitting and makes you continue what you’ve been doing due to the fear of failure. It helps you see your goal much more clearly, which helps you achieve it.
This type of motivation can be seen when your boss tells you to work harder so you won’t get fired or when a soldier needs to obey orders. This is also effective for students who need to go to their classes, so they won’t fail in school.
This is a great motivation for you if you need something to ramp up your energy, so you can finish all your work, as there’s a risk factor if you can’t.
Achievement
This kind of motivation is one that makes a person reach a goal in order to gain an achievement. It gives you the drive to strive hard and do your best to achieve the results that you want, which helps you in life. Unlike the reward type of motivation, where it aims on a certain goal, this type of motivation focuses on what you’re going to achieve upon reaching that goal.
This achievement can vary, like in work where reaching a goal will earn you a title or a position.
An achievement type of motivation makes you want to reach your goals, as it can help you raise your livelihood, as your success can lift your status in your workplace.
Power
A Power type of motivation sees people that are motivated through power. They often like to be in positions of authority, so they can practice their power and influence other people, which can lead to change depending on what the person wants to happen. This may sound like a bad thing, but it usually depends on how this motivation is used.
Usual examples of this are people who are in politics or corporate people in a high ranking position. These types of people usually go with these professions due to them wanting to practice their influence regarding people.
If you’re into power based work, which makes you happy as you can have as much control as you want, then this is the best type of motivation that you need.
Affiliation
This is a type of motivation that requires other people to give you the drive to work. One wants to have a sense of belonging in any kind of social group, so they strive more to achieve the standards of that group, so the group will accept the person.
Affiliation based motivation is most common in a workplace, as everyone works hard to achieve a certain standard, so they can gain strong interpersonal relationships inside the group to create a much more efficient work environment.
It’s a great way of motivating yourself, so you can work better with other people. This type of motivation can help you cooperate with other people and give a good impression to them, which can give you a better chance of achieving your social goals.
Competence
It’s the push that one needs to improve themselves on a skill, so they’ll become more competent in that certain field of expertise.
Competence based motivation makes people want to practice in their hobbies or profession in order to achieve mastery of their craft.
This is usually seen in athletes, as they always train to maintain and improve their skill to win competitions. Doctors are also good examples of this, as they need to be good in their profession to provide good judgement for their patients.
If you’re trying to improve yourself on a certain skill or be better at your hobbies, then this will be a great motivation for you to work hard to achieve mastery.
Attitude
It is the motivation to change one’s personal perspective and belief in life. A way to increase someone’s self-esteem is to change how they see things and let them view everything in a new light in order to become happy and more productive.
A great type of motivation for people seems to be due to their perspective in life, which makes them lose productivity. It changes their mindset in order to achieve their goals and helps them become successful.
If you have difficulty achieving your goals, then change how you look at it to give you a new light on why you should strive to achieve it. It’s always great to have a new refreshing outlook on what you’re aiming for.
Addiction
There are things that you are motivated to do, but you can’t stop doing it, as you are addicted to it. Addiction is a form of motivation that makes you want to work on something or achieve something because you’re really into it or can’t stop it due to being hungry to achieve what you want to do.
Sometimes motivation does not lead to a more positive change, as it will always depend on what you’re motivated to do.
Always make sure to regulate yourself and check if what you want to be motivated with will lead you into a more positive outcome. It’s important that what motivates you can always give you a good outlook where it won’t lead you astray.
Subconscious
Subconscious motivation is a type of motivation where you don’t really ask why it motivates you to do it. It is already programmed inside your system to make you want to commit to certain things, as it is a necessity or a habit that the body and mind has been accustomed to.
This motivation is also part of how we must perform actions to provide ourselves with the basic needs of life. It is as simple as the motivation to eat and sleep, which is important for our bodies to sustain itself.
It can also be a type of motivation where an action is done unintentionally by the person as a coping mechanism due to past trauma. In this case, therapy is recommended to remove these habits.
Intrinsic
This is a kind of motivation where the person is fueled by the desire of what the self wants. It focuses on the internal rewards, as it only affects the person, as its results will help the person grow.
It can be either their growth regarding their academics or work occupation, as it will help the person live a more comfortable lifestyle. Or it can be correlated to fitness, as the person wants to work out in order to lose weight and gain muscle so the person can become healthier.
You can try to find your own intrinsic motivation. You just have to know what your reason is to improve yourself, so you can be motivated on it. This article will help you find that motivation.
Extrinsic
Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation where the person is influenced by external values. This type of motivation makes you want to follow or strive for goals in order to get rewards, which can be praise, grades, or money.
This motivation is seen when you’re working a job to get paid. What motivates you to work is the reward, which is the money. The money is an external force that makes you motivated to do the tasks in order to receive it.
External pressure can always help you motivate yourself to strive for success, but it’s important that these types of influences will bring you positivity for you to be happy in what you’re doing.
Conclusion
Motivation can come in different forms and aspects, so there can be many factors to help you motivate yourself to become happy and productive in your life.
It’s important that you focus on the more positive side of motivation, so you can achieve your goals in life while still being happy.
Motivation is the key to achieve what you want and always wanted to do, so you can enjoy everything that life has to offer you.
