If you ever want to do anything in life, you cannot wait until someone permits you. This is where motivation comes into play because it directs you towards your goals. Goals are how you get closer to your dreams and the motivational force is what keeps you moving toward those dreams. But, not everyone is born with that motivating force. Some people always seem to be thinking some version of, “I will get to that someday,” or “it’s not the right time for that,” or the classic “I can’t do that.”

Motivation is what turns a good idea into action. That good idea can turn into a good business idea which can have a positive effect on the world around you. Without it, you won’t be able to achieve anything because there are no goals to work towards no purpose to life.

If you have goals that you would like to achieve and would like to know more about the driving force that will get you to your goals, then keep reading.

The Two Main Types of Motivation

1) Intrinsic Motivation

Any driving force based on internal rewards is otherwise called intrinsic motivation. An example of this kind of this motivating force would be a promotion that you would like to get because of the want for self-improvement and the learning opportunity. Or you may feel motivated to succeed so you can have a positive effect on the people around you.

Intrinsic motivation can also drive you for negative reasons. For instance, you may feel motivated to learn new things or you will feel unfulfilled. In this case, there is a positive result, but your focus was to stop a negative outcome instead of making a positive outcome. For this reason, there are subcategories of intrinsic motivation that focus on specific drivers of this type. Some of these subcategories are:

Competence Motivation

Have you ever wanted to improve at doing something? Is it a goal for you to be better at your job or a hobby? If this applies to you, this type of motivational force may be what you need.

Competence motivation involves pushing toward being more competent in a certain area.

This type of drive can come in handy when it involves learning how to do something new or figuring out how to work through obstacles in life.

Achievement Motivation

This type of motivating force occurs when the pursuit and achievement of specific goals are a driving force. For individuals with this kind of drive, achieving a certain task or goal drives them, and the motivational factor may have no relation to the reward that comes from that achievement. As an example of this type of motivation, an entrepreneur may want to build a business solely to have a high-quality business and not for the money involved.

People with this driving force are generally great at motivating themselves and are very process-oriented. This indicates that they place more value on the growing process involved than the outcome. Most of the reward that comes from this type of motivation is internal, even though the actual achievement of the reward may seem like an external reward. This is because the individual’s focus is not the reward itself, but the feeling that they get from accomplishing a task or goal.

2) Extrinsic Motivation

There are very good odds that extrinsic motivation is driving many of people’s day to day activities. This drive is applicable whenever a separate outcome is a driving force for someone’s actions.

Extrinsic motivation may include working out to lose weight, learning a new language to impress your friends, or showing up to work on time so your boss won’t yell at you.

The external rewards are the reason for doing something with extrinsic motivation. These rewards could involve financial gain, benefits, and even trying to avoid getting fired.

Like intrinsic motivation, there are various types of extrinsic motivation. Some of them are:

Affiliation Motivation

This type of motivational force is the urge to relate to others socially. People with this kind of motivation have better quality work when they receive praise for positive attitudes or cooperation. When monetary compensation is not an option, this motivational style is much better.

Incentive Motivation

Incentive motivation is the opposite of achievement motivation. With incentive motivational forces, the drive comes from the reward more so than the achievement of the goal or task. For the individuals driven by incentives, they act because of an expected and usually specific reward. For instance, if a person gets their drive from incentives rather than achievements, they may want a promotion for the higher salary, not for the feeling of fulfillment that may come with it.

Incentive motivation isn’t as bad as it may sound. Achievement and incentive motivation are useful together even though they are complete opposites. If you have your eye on a promotion, the higher salary AND the more complex and fulfilling work may be a motivational factor for you. In situations like this, you win no matter what because you are getting internal and external rewards. For this reason, try to set goals that have both of these motivational factors.

Power-Based Motivation

Power-based motivational factors are for the individuals that find happiness in growing more powerful or making a huge change. This motivating force drives others to have more control, like higher up positions in businesses.

Even though it may sound bad, this type of drive is fantastic for those that want to change the world with their unique vision. A power-based drive may be the thing for you if you want to make changes in your life and the lives of others.

By now, you should know what motivation is and various types of motivational forces, but, why is it so important?

Motivation is important on an individual level. It is important for so many reasons. For a motivated individual, there will be job satisfaction and it will help with their self-growth.

A motivational drive is also essential to a company. The more motivated employees have, the more power the team has. The better teamwork and individual employee input, the more successful a business will be. Change will not slow them down because they are more adaptable and creative. Overall, motivation will give the workplace a positive and challenging attitude.

Motivation is so important to become good at anything. It is how innovation happens and how someone can meet their career goals. It is necessary for someone to form good habits and is essential for them to have a successful life.

So many people under-estimate the importance of motivation and it is quite possibly the least understood area of people in leadership roles within a business. If you want to measure your success as a leader, being knowledgable of what motivates your employees will help. This is one crucial performance indicator that every leader should keep track of.

To learn more about the motivational speakers that Eagle Rise has to offer, check out their Motivational Speaker page here.