Hi Cynthia–thanks for adding your voice to our conversation and broadening the applications for Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence to managing our own individual health. That is a great example we can all relate to. We all strive to be healthy and we all have a wide variety of ways that we motivate ourselves to achieve our goals. Some of us work on our health so we can be independent and live full, rich self-determined lives for as long as possible. Some of us use exercise as a way to spend time with friends engaging in a healthy activity. Some of us like to develop ourselves more fully by improving our own personal strength, flexibility, or endurance. These are all great self-motivators. On the other hand, sometimes we turn to extrinsic self-motivators like rewards, treats, etc. These generally do not work as well long-term. What’s everyone’s experience with managing their health–have you tried intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators? Which have worked best? There is a lot to be learned here!

Thanks, David, for winnowing down the list of To Do’s to this simple but profound approach.

Hi John–just read your post–thanks for sharing this with your audience. I’m glad to see all of the synergy around this topic. I’m hopeful that our combined voices will start to “move the needle” on the way managers seek to create motivating work environments for their people. Taking a look at psychological needs is a great next step to help us refine (or better understand) the carrot-and-stick thinking of the past.

Hi Nigel–be sure to check out the 30-page excerpt from Susan’s book that is available from the link at the end of the post. You’ll see where Susan discusses the work of Daniel Pink, Alfie Kohn, and researchers Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. While extrinsic motivators still seem to rule the day when it comes to motivation at work right now, it does feel like there is a change in the air. With all of the focus on happiness, well-being, and intrinsic motivators, we might finally be seeing a shift toward the deeper, sustainable motivators that lead to long-term, self-directed motivation. We’ll see!

Hi David–thanks for your comment. It will probably take time for leaders to begin adopting new habits when it comes to creating motivating work environments. “Carrot and stick” thinking has been in place for quite awhile. I’m hoping that the focus on Intrinsic motivators will move from the awareness stage we are in currently to a more action-oriented stage in the future. There is no reason we have to settle for less. Work can be motivating with a little bit of effort in the right direction.