3rd Pillar of Intrinsic Motivation
Perceived value, that we derive from the completion of a specific action, is the 3rd crucial pillar that underpins motivation.
However, a value ascribed to an action doesn’t guarantee that we will be motivated enough to complete the action. Take yoga as an example, specifically, completing your daily yoga practice:
The perceived value for doing this may not be high enough, or
We don’t believe we’ll do the practice well enough to derive the value from it, or
We feel unable to control when/where the practice takes place and can’t form a routine.
For one person, being paid £10 to watch paint dry for an hour may hold enough value. For another, £100 wouldn’t turn their head. At least with a monetary value it’s easier to make a decision.
There are plenty of graphs out there showing average earnings by education level reached. Yet, even a clear monetary value like this seems too far off in the future, and is muddied by it being an average (not necessarily what will happen to you).
The issue is not about being able to ascribe value to doing your daily yoga practice or doing well in your GCSEs. The issue is that the value is not realised until years down the line, and there is a lot of hard work and failure to go through to get there.
This is why a lot of students will cruise through years 10-11, and only start working really hard towards their GCSEs a couple of months before taking them - suddenly the value for doing well in them is just around the corner, but unfortunately doing well in them is now less likely (or certainly they could have done better with harder work put in earlier).
So, what’s needed to ensure that perceived value motivates people from the beginning?
Faith in the process, so the value continues to feel real and within reach
Breaking the overarching goal down into smaller goals, each with their own value that can be realised sooner
Awareness of how failure can be used to bring success
Focusing on your overall wellbeing and balancing life’s activities
Having people around you that you trust and feel willing to open up to, so if motivation falters, it can be brought back quickly
