Analyzing Motivation

In my most recent book on reading a over 100 books in a year, I discussed some ideas that helped me accomplish that task. Since publishing that short work, I've been thinking even more about inspiration, motivation, and their interdependence on each other.

I can honestly say that I don't believe in the traditional stance that psychology has taken by dividing motivation into two forms: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. On the same note, I don't subscribe to the language acquisition theories of integrative and instrumental motivation.

What this comes down to is an ever broadening application of complexity theory and understanding of adaptive systems. I believe it is impossible to separate the mind and body, the body and world, and now a person's internal motivation from the people, things, and world around them.

Personal Motivations

As a short example of what I mean, here is something similar to how I've described my motivation in the past whenever intrinsic/extrinsic motivation has been brought up.

"Hey Kyle, how bout you? You intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?"

"Uh, intrinsically? Well, both I guess, depends on how you mean it."

"Well do extrinsic factors motivate you?"

"Sure, I've got plenty of role models I look up to that I try to emulate and surpass. My dad has always been a major benchmark for me when setting goals. He was big and strong, so I want to be bigger and stronger. He read a lot of books, so I want to read more books. My twin got great grades in school, so I wanted to be smarter."

"So you just want to beat everything other people do around you?"

"Kind of, not really. I really hate not being as good at something as someone else. But, I also just want to be the best possible version of myself. Really, I don't care that much if I beat anyone, just that I figure out my own limitations. I always want to be better. Does it count as intrinsic still if I use others as milestones?"

Reflection

And there's the rub. How do you separate the inspiration from "other" from the motivation of "self". I don't believe you can. They seem to be completely interconnected in my view. Others inspire me and show me what is possible and through those social interactions I begin to feel intrinsic "self" motivation. I think, "I could do that." Then I go off and see if I can.

However, it doesn't end there. Once I am inspired/motivated to pursue a goal, I constantly wind up going back to others for renewed vigor and energy. For example, I am highly motivated to read and exercise regularly, but there are times when I feel like I've done everything I can. When this happens, I hit the internet and find examples of others who have done more. This sense of competition simultaneously with both myself and others keeps me going in many cases.

The Relevant Factors to My Motivations

Now, I'm going to elaborate on a number of factors that keep me personally motivated. Many of them involve both sides of the intrinsic/extrinsic coin. My motivation is always being adjusted by my own wants and desires and by what I see others doing and getting around me.

1. Data - Information is highly motivating to me. The more information I have about myself and others, the more energy I have to do or accomplish something. In this vein, tables of standards or classifications are highly motivating to me. For example, these strength standards for the squat have been a motivating force to me for years now. I have slowly worked my way from untrained to advanced and have an end goal of elite. Knowing my numbers and where I stand relative to others is very driving. I plan to create a similar table for "language development standards" here on this site for this very reason of providing motivation.
2. Goals - This relates directly to number one above. Once I have information and data about anything, I am almost spontaneously driven to create goals. It happens almost of its own volition. For instance, when starting to think about learning a new language, I discovered that most general conversation utilizes about 5,000 words. That instantly becomes my goal. Learn the first 5,000 most common vocabulary words in a new language. Many high school graduates know roughly 15,000 to 20,000 words. Who can't imagine learning that over a number of years?
3. Plan - After seeing the data and spontaneously setting a goal, a plan is formed. This can be self planned or laid out by a coach, teacher, or mentor. Whatever the case might be, it is usually helpful to see what people who have done before me have done. Seeking out the plan of people who have accomplished exactly what I want is not only helpful in accomplishing the goal, it provides more inspiration/motivation in the form of success stories.
4. Tools - This varies from goal to goal. Some require little to no tools and others require many, many tools. Sometimes these tools are simple to get and free of charge, sometimes not. With enough dedication it usually isn't a problem.
5. Time - This can also be bunched in with the plan, but I have always found it personally useful to make picking a time an emphasis. Once I have scheduled something onto my weekly routine that is part of achieving a goal, it is treated just like any other schedule item. I have not participated in several events because they conflict with my gym schedule. I treat it just like work or school though. It is non-negotiable. Usually my top two or three priorities will be treated this way, not every single little goal I have. Just the big ones.
6. Execution - The first five steps are obviously all about internal decisions and mental activity. Execution is where action is actually taken towards accomplishment. It is a physical realization of steps one through five. In the end, my motto is almost always "completion beats perfection". I have found that even if my information, plan, tools, and timing are not perfect, actually taking action and completing something is what makes the difference. I can always adjust course later. 
7. Feedback - Speaking of adjusting course, feedback after execution is highly important for sustained motivation and improvement. Feedback can be external or internal for me. Sometimes it means reflecting on what I did and how to change it. Sometimes it means getting expert opinion. Expert feedback and interaction is also a great way to stay accountable. I have talked about accountability because I don't feel I need it in most cases. But when I do, the feedback step is where it fits. Either way, feedback gives me something to focus on that is new. Novelty is a very strong driving force for me, and I believe others as well.
8. Iteration - This simply means that I repeat the whole process taking the feedback from step seven into consideration. After going through the entire process, it might mean I need to get more information in step one, different tools in step four, or simply execute differently. Not every piece of the process will change, but something will. Iteration is about repetition with change for improvement.

Conclusion

At the end of everything, I find that I can't separate and pinpoint my motivation from everything else that happens around me. It comes down to a mix of what I imagine to be genetic, environmental, experiential, and cultural factors. 

While this is a pretty long post, there is still an entire concept that I have only just begun to explore within the realm of motivation - identity. I am seeing motivation more and more as the result of figuring out my real identity and how it conflicts with my imagined identity. This is a topic I am still new to and won't go into detail on. Nevertheless, I am seeing most of what I do as a consequence of trying to close the gap between an ideal self and my real self. 

This unexplored area doesn't discount what I've written above, it only adds to the fact that motivation is not likely to be explained with one or two causal factors. It certainly isn't static, although it may be stable, and will continue to wax and wane for me depending on a multitude of contexts.