Understanding motivation

Good day, all! I thought it was a good idea to share something about motivation. This topic is inspired after working with some professional athletes. There is a saying in sports that intrinsic motivation gets you started but extrinsic motivation is the one that gets you paid.

So what is motivation? A quick Google search leads to the Wikipedia definition that motivation is the reason for people’s actions, desires and needs. Motivation is also one’s direction to behavior or what causes a person to want to repeat a behavior. A motive is what prompts the person to act in a certain way or at least, develop an inclination for specific behavior.

Further, we’ve been taught that motivation takes on two forms: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you. Applied to fitness and health, you strive to be fit because it is naturally satisfying to your own self. Thus the desire to eat well, exercise, and be well comes from your own personal desire.

Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, refers to behavior that is driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades and praise. This type of motivation arises from outside the individual. Applied to fitness and health, this could be exercising and eating well so you can post that selfie on Facebook, and get as many likes as you can (a form of reward), or exercise well to impress other people and perhaps the opposite sex.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is important in health and wellness. I believe some people get started out with extrinsic motivation and when they feel how good it is to be healthy, that desire to be fit and well comes from a deeper personal desire. I believe for fitness to be sustainable, our desire to get healthy and well shouldn’t come from outside praise or rewards but from an innate desire to be the best, healthiest version of ourselves.

Hope this finds everyone well! Extrinsically or intrinsically motivated, I hope everyone enjoys fitness and health at any age.