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Very close with Dr. E.
Today’s column is about a fundamental force that drives everything we do: motivation. What is motivation? Let’s start with the following definition: A force that causes movement. Motivation is like the wind caught in the surging sails of a ship. When the wind blows, the ship moves forward. When the wind subsides, the ship stops.
There are two basic ways to generate motivation: 1. Rewards. You get a bonus for good work. 2. Punishment. Your working hours will be reduced. Each of them can be delivered internally or externally. Recent research has shown that internally delivered rewards not only create the strongest motivation, but also create sustainable or long-term drive. Here are two examples of reward-driven motivation.
Sara, a third grader, receives $ 5 for every A she earns on her certificate. She is motivated by the reward of money. Since her reward comes from outside of her, this is called extrinsic motivation.
Bonita volunteers five hours a week in a center for disabled children. She reads stories, builds dolls and teaches children to tie their shoes. What is the force that drives them? She is rewarded with an inner sense of kindness. This is called intrinsic motivation.
Bonita helps children because their actions generate internally delivered rewards. “When I help a child to tie shoes, my heart leaps with joy.†Bonita has created her very own wind in her heart, with which she can motivate herself. Would you like to learn more about how you can create your own inner drive? To do this, we have to travel back to the time of the Vikings.
It’s 793 AD and you’ve drove to Stockholm Harbor on the west coast of Sweden. “Welcome, time travelers. I am Dag Hammer, King of the Vikings. You were brought here to solve a problem. I build a fleet of ocean-going vessels called long ships, but I don’t have enough people to sail them. You are about to hear speeches from my two captains. They will both try to recruit you. After their speeches, you will vote on which captain is the best to go on an expedition. You then join the captain who has the most votes. As a member of his crew, you set the sails on course to the west. Your job is to discover the new world called America. “
1. Captain Gunnar Swenson: Welcome to my family’s shipbuilding factory. Let your eyes feast on the massive new pruning saws, whose metal teeth tear raw boards at 10 times the speed of old saws. Smell the clean pine scent of freshly cut spruce.
Now i ask you what are you living for Is it fame, honor or wild adventure? No. Even now, as we talk, the great gears of change are grinding: our birth rate has tripled, our once tiny village is now a city, our women beg us to spend more time at home. I know what you live for Safety. And I can give you that. Here is my offer: Each of you who vote for me will get 10 bars of gold and 10 bars of silver. If you die at sea, all of your share will be passed on to your families. Thanks very much.
2. Captain Sten Grytt: Welcome. My name is Sten Grytt and, unlike Gunnar, I am neither young nor rich. So I am not going to offer you wealth. Instead, I’ll remind you of what you once knew but forgot. I am speaking of what lies dormant in your hearts, frozen under a thick crust of ice. My words, like the blue shimmering rays of the midsummer sun, are intended to warm your hearts and set them free so that you can return to the essence of our heritage: the Baltic Sea and its mother who begets it, the vast and boundless great western ocean. And then you should remember who you are.
We are not farmers, poets or priests. We are not merchants or scholars either. We are Viking explorers sailing in great longships led by courage. Gunnar asks you, “What are you living for?” I ask you, “What are you ready to die for?” Gunnar promises you security that comes at the price of metal building blocks. I promise you, if you survive the rigors of the long journey, whoever you were will be transformed into someone else your fathers and mothers told you you could be !! Thanks very much.
Bottom line: The first captain, Gunnar, used gold and silver as motivators. This is an example of EM, but EMs have two pitfalls: goals are set by the king, not the sailors; EM only increases short-term drive. The second captain, Grytt, knew that the expedition required long-term propulsion and that every single seaman needed deeply personal reasons to risk his life. He used IMs.
What motivates the human heart is what we wish it could happen in our life. Our desires guide our dreams, and our dreams long to be turned into reality.
The content of this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional treatment. The characters in this story are not real. Names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality.
Dr. Richard Elghammer contributes his column to the Journal Review every week.
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