External Motivation

According to Verywell Mind (2022) external motivation can be defined as, "Extrinsic motivation is a motivation that is driven by external rewards. These can be tangible, such as money or grades, or intangible, such as praise or fame...People who are extrinsically motivated will continue to perform a task even though it might not be in and of itself rewarding"(Cherry).

 

I never heard of the term external motivation until my sophomore year when I was taking an elective leadership course. We had been assigned to reading an article that dealt with external and internal motivation and seeing how which type of motivation impacted athletes differently. The more I read the article the more I became intrigued by the topic and wanted to learn more about it. I remember being very excited to come to class that following week to have our discussion about the topic and hear everyone else’s opinions about what we had read. Like my reaction many of my classmates were also foreign to the concept. Although, this discussion occurred a few years ago this is what I remembered from this discussion.

 

We discussed what motivation is and what it meant to us. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that motivation is was leads to our actions and what makes it possible for us to reach and achieve our goals or any aspirations that we have created. Though, when it comes to internal motivation and how that relates to what fuels us from personal desires or goals and can be extremely vital for longevity in a task, external motivation is also vital for success. External motivation can be used to push us to or even past our limits because what it can bring for us as individuals. 

As a group to have our discussion regarding external motivation we first had to think of a definition for the term that everybody agreed with. Although, I do not remember our definition word for word I do remember the gist of what was decided from our discussion. As a group we concluded that external motivation could be defined as the motivation that involves variables such as rewards, incentives, or even praises that can occur from the environment that and individual is a part of. This type of motivation differs from internal because it stems from the external factors and influences of that said environment. This type of motivation is as equally as important as internal motivation because of the way it can help us succeed through challenging times by the different ways it can occur. I have already mentioned briefly discussed the sources that external motivation can occur in, but let's analyze these variables deeper!

External motivation sources:

1. Rewards and Incentives: This can includes things that are intangibles such as promotions from a job, prizes that can be won, bonuses that are given from doing an excellent job and going above and beyond the standard that has been set, etc.. All this to say these incentives help to motivate individuals to want to achieve and reach goals so that these variables can be obtained. Thus, contributing as a powerful motivator when participating in an area that can lead to achieving them.

2.  Competition: whether it is in sports, work, academics, etc. healthy competition can serve as external motivation from the desire of wanting to win. Competition can act as a catalyst in an individual giving their all and going above and beyond so they can be the best at something.

3. Validation and Recognition: As human beings it is normal to want to feel validated and praised for a job well-done. This type of recognition when it is from peers, especially ones that an individual’s care about in regards to their opinions such as family, friends, superiors, etc.. can be another powerful motivator because when given praise it can make an individual feel more confident and also increase their self-esteem.

4. Accountability: Being held accountable whether by peers, coaches, friends, family, etc. can also serve as a contributor to external motivation. when an individual is aware that another person is counting on them to achieve or complete something can help to motivate them in staying focused and finishing a task.

Now that we have discussed what these variables can look like when it comes to external motivation, let us also discuss how we can be successful when using this type of motivation!

External motivation strategies for success:

1. Visualization = Success: There has been many studies done on how visualization can be a very useful tool when wanting to achieve success. By imagining yourself not only completing and achieving your goals, but also gaining the reward that comes along with the success can provide inspiration and motivation. Simple ways of doing so could be anything from closing your eyes and imagining a scenario of you achieving your goals or creating physical visual examples such as a goal vision board.

2. Creating clear goals: Establishing goals when wanting to achieve something is very important for various reasons. Success does not occur overnight, and when an individual does not see results from hard work immediately it can become difficult for them to stay disciplined as time continues. Setting goals and small milestones that are tied to small incentives with completion can help to keep individuals not only focus with their overall goal but also motivated. 

3. Establishing a reward system: similar to what was mentioned with setting goals, creating rewards or incentives when milestones or goals are met can help to reinforce positive behaviors that correlate with accomplishments that have been met by individuals. Incentives can range from anything small as a break from what you are doing and rewarding yourself with "you time" where you are able to do something you enjoy freely for a set time to anything as extravagant as making a purchase of something you have been wanting as a reward for all of your hard work.

4. Dealing with obstacles: Setbacks will occur in whatever you choose to do, but how you let these setbacks affect you will determine your success. A way to deal with challenges that may arise from your journey to success as an opportunity to grow rather than a negative thing that has occurred can not only help you embrace the journey that you are on by help you use what has occurred as motivation to want to succeed even more.

5. Who you surround yourself with: There have many discussions based upon you becoming similar to the individuals that you surround yourself with. Meaning it may be more difficult to reach your goals and aspirations if you surround yourself with people who are not motivated, have no goals, or don't support your goals versus if you surround yourself with individuals who are motivated, have goals, and do support you. Creating an environment that includes people who will be positive on your development throughout your journey to reaching your goals can make or break it when it comes to achieving what you're wanting to achieve.

As I have continued to mention, external motivation is a powerful type of motivation that can assist individuals when wanting to achieve set goals and aspirations. There is various form that external motivation can take on whether it be rewards, praise, accountability, competition, etc. all serve as being a powerful motivator for individuals. Throughout my athletic journey I have used external motivation and has helped me in achieving my goals and aspirations.

My Athletic journey:

Competition: I have grown playing sports my entire life. From the time I was five years old I was already signed up for my first basketball camp, and from then I haven't looked back. Growing up I played softball, basketball, and volleyball. I have touched on this in my previous blog, but I am not the type of athlete with natural god given athletic ability. Meaning I couldn't just walk on to the court or field and be the best one out there, I had to work for it. Many times, when joining a new team, I found myself to be the so called "weakest link", and this bothered me to no end. Every time this occurred, I had this desire to become the best one on that team no matter what it took. I didn't care if I had to come early and get extra repetitions, go home after a two-hour practice, and take more shots, watch film on how to do the proper footwork for hitting a ball. All I knew is I was going to be the one of the best if not the best before the season was done. This form of external motivation drove me to continuously working on whatever sport I was participating in at that time to achieve and creating a competition between me and other individuals on my team. I hate to lose and being inspired by completion has contributed to my work ethic. (However, as I have gotten older, I have become more intrinsically motivated with this scenario because no instead of competing with my teammates, I know compete with myself. Such as beating personal bests).

Rewards & Incentives: I think what largely contributed to this as being one of my external motivations is my grandparents. When I was little, I remember playing in little league and being told by them that certain base hits they would pay me a certain amount of money. For example, a single would be five dollars, a double would be ten, and so on. Of course, as a child any opportunity to receive money I was game for, but little did they know that this would motivate me to work on my form and swing every day. Before they knew it, I was only hitting doubles and triples. As I got older and more skilled in sports, I was no longer given money. However, around this time was when things such as MVP trophies and all-conference teams began to come into play. From the time that I was able to make a team it was always my goal to be on first team and so on. Though, when I was playing a game, I was not thinking "Hey you need to score X number of points and get X amount of rebounds so you can be all state", I was focused on winning the game, but there was always an average that I had in the back of my mind to help keep me on track. Though, this may be frowned upon it did help to push me harder when competing against other to competitors who I had rivalries with at the time. This type of external motivation has helped to contribute to much of my athletic success. Every year I set personal goals that I want to accomplish and so far I have done just that. 

Article Link: Cherry, K (2022). How does extrinsic motivation influence behavior? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-extrinsic-motivation-2795164