Motivational Speakers aren't for Everyone

One morning I sat in the front row of a motivational lecture, which was weekly back in school. The seasoned speaker who was accomplished started his lecture, inserting every now and then, "thought-provoking" sentences, which after much thought, barely made sense or made it past the short term memory. Yet people behind me were enthused, cheering on and here I sat, unamused and checking my time every few seconds hoping my stare would speed up the hands of the clock. It was over and as we walked out people were excited and ready to act yet nothing had changed in me. I wasn't any more motivated than I was before the lecture.  What was happening? Do you also feel that way? I'll explain why.

First, let's look at motivation as a concept
Lumen learning describes motivation as the "
wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal. It is an urge to behave or act in a way that will satisfy certain conditions, such as wishes, desires, or goals." Motivation can't be directly observed but is inferred from an individual's behavior towards a specified goal. For example, you can describe a student as motivated when the students study a lot or take school seriously. An employee motivated at work would get to work early, always excited for an opportunity and always beats deadlines. Motivation is in two folds; extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Knowing this is instrumental in explaining why this happens.

Extrinsic motivation describes behavior directed towards a goal that is pushed by something external or by someone. In other words, the individual is motivated by external factors like incentives, material rewards, praises or people. Athletes are driven by the goal of winning trophies at the end of a season, as well as praises and support from media and fans. Individuals are driven by the quest to be qualified and attractive to the job market and therefore strive for the best grades in school as well as participating in several extra-curricular activities

Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is motivation driven by internal factors such as satisfaction, interests, and desires. Thus, the individual directs all behaviors towards a particular goal since they derive satisfaction from such activities. A medical student who has long dreamt of being a doctor may use that as motivation or drive to continue to pursue the lengthy course.

Every individual is motivated differently depending on what the goal is. Extrinsic motivation may appeal to people as "bribe" but it's far from that. (in some cases it may be).

Motivational speakers mostly address external factors for motivation

Now concerning the motivational speaker situation, this is not to say their work isn't necessary but their work is usually nullified by intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the best and most effective form of motivation. Some individuals are intrinsically motivated and barely by external factors and in some others, it's vice versa. This affects the efficacy of the work of motivational speakers. Motivational speakers focus on extrinsic motivation and most of the time make you aware of them; how successful you'll be if you'd just be patient, or how putting in more hours at work or something like that is critical to your success. These are great, don't get me wrong but until the individual is intrinsically motivated, every word from the motivational speaker's mouth is redundant. If the individual has no interest or satisfaction from whatever line of work he or she is involved in, it's just a waste of time. For instance, a student who has a passion for music or art and is being forced to read Science isn't going to be motivated by a teacher or a motivational speaker to read his books to get good grades.
Paul Pogba of Manchester United was no longer gaining satisfaction from playing under his previous coach during to their bad relationship and turned in one bad performance after another. This affected the whole team and eventually, the coach was sacked. It didn't matter how the fans had his back and cheered his name anytime he got on the pitch(extrinsic) if he wasn't getting the satisfaction(intrinsic).

Intrinsic motivation is most effective!

In the end what I'm trying to say is, before you spend another dime on some motivational lecture or books, work on yourself, find what your interests are and assess yourself to know if you're more internally motivated or extrinsically. Extrinsically motivated individuals may benefit so much from motivational talks and programs, compared to individuals internally motivated. Since extrinsic motivation is important (yes, it is), it would not be as effective if you're not internally motivated.

All pictures used are by Pixabay

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