The world of motivation has recently received a huge influx of research. With so many things competing for our attention, it has never been so important to understand what motivates people. In this article, I want to explain the four core dimensions of motivation so that you can understand how you can more easily impact others.
We are motivated by things that make us feel good (positive) and things that make use feel bad (negative). We are also motivated by inner motivations (intrinsic) and outer motivations (extrinsic). So whenever you want to motivate someone these four elements are usually combined in some form.
1. Positive Intrinsic Dimension
This is when you are motivated by something positive that you feel internally. (pride, satisfaction, sense of achievement, challenge)
2. Negative Intrinsic Dimension
This is where you are motivated by what you don’t want that is internal. (fear, regret, stress, letting yourself down)
3. Positive Extrinsic Dimension
This is where you are motivated by positive reward on the outside. (money, promotion, prizes, incentives)
4. Negative Extrinsic Dimension
This is where you are motivated by negative punishments on the outside. (dock in pay, demotion, losing your job)
When you are struggling with motivation, ask yourself which dimension you are in and change the dimension. By doing this, you will find yourself using a much more effective strategy to motivate yourself!!
