Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: How Should We Create?
Cultivating the impulse to be creative is a source of power that maintains over a lifetime.
When I was 18, I was a preschool teacher. I am not sure how it happened, but I spent my entire summer working 50 hours a week in a room of 30 children. I soon realized that:
I did not want to be a early child educator
and:
I did not get along with my coworkers; or they did not get along with me.
It took me a while, but I have finally figured out why. And it illuminates a message that has takeaways for anyone in any field of work where you are putting your heart on the line.
My coworkers taught because they liked little kids, I started teaching because I remembered what it was like to be a little kid.
Please don’t get me wrong: I loved the kids, too, which is probably why I stuck out the whole summer term.
But it wasn’t the object that led me to this job, it was the way it made me feel.
As a society I fear that we often chase the object of our desires much more than we chase the desires themselves.
By that, I mean that a doctor or a lawyer might chase money (the object) far more often than chasing their inner draw to help.
An artist might chase sales (the object) far more often than their childlike wonder that leads them to create.
Its intrinsic verses extrinsic motivation. Personal satisfaction versus external reward. The problem? External reward dries up, but a hydrated source of intrinsic desire and personal motivation can be cultivated for one’s entire life.
That summer, every time a kid looked at me like I was their safe place, like I mattered in their tiny world—that’s what kept me coming back. It wasn’t the lesson plans or the gold-star charts. It was the day all of my kids found a four-leaf clover patch on the playground. The little things that felt big. The kind of reward that doesn’t show up on a paycheck or in praise from a supervisor but lingers in your memory long after.
But my coworkers weren’t wrong for being there because they loved kids. They were incredibly patient, nurturing, and experienced. What we had was a misalignment, not a moral failing. They approached the job with a different compass—one that was just as valid but pointed in a direction I couldn’t follow.
I was craving transformation. They were craving stability. I wanted to reflect something I remembered in myself. They wanted to pour into the present moment. There’s a difference, and it matters—especially when we find ourselves in roles that ask for our soul’s attention.
I’ve carried that lesson with me into every job I’ve had since.
So I ask: what is it really that drives you?
Is it the thing? Or the feeling?
The job title? Or the reason you wanted it in the first place?
Don’t create because you find it trendy. Create because you remember how it felt to need something beautiful, honest, reflective, or useful.
Help people, not because you have all the answers, but because you remember what it felt like to not have any.
This is a question for everyone who is trying to live a life that feels like their own. Because when we realign with the feeling instead of the object, we find energy again.
We find clarity. We find peace.
And most importantly, we find ourselves.
Need help realigning your business ventures with your intrinsic motivations?
Reach out—we’re here to help you build a creative business that actually works for you.
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