What motivates us towards achieving our goals? Is it the support you've got from your family, friends and mentors? Is it the power and popularity that you would receive? Is is the pressure from your boss and workmates? Or is it money?

I was currently doing a research about procrastination and accidentally saw this video on a friend's Facebook profile. It is entitled "Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us" by RSA Animate which they adapted from Dan Pink's lecture. It's the opposite of what I am working on right now but the video is really great and worth sharing. Aside from the cool animated drawing (that's very catchy), I learned that money is a good motivator (that's a fact) but it does not apply to all kinds of activity especially those that requires complicated cognitive skills.

Thinking about it, I realized that...yes, it's true. On my previous job, at first, I was motivated by money. But as time goes by and as the task gets a bit more complex I am not thinking about the salary I would be getting from it anymore - which means money has lost its motivating powers on me. The salary I got is not that high but I can say that it's enough, so the salary seemed not be an issue anymore. 

Dank Pink is right aside from money there are still other interesting motivators around us. At work, he said that there are 3 factors that would lead an employee to better performance and personal satisfaction as well. 

Of course, I've seen these on psychology books but the animation seemed to emphasize it even more. First, is our desire to be self-directed - autonomy which my previous employer gave me. She let me decide on what's best for our clients and do my job the way I think it should be done. Second, is our urge to get better at stuff - mastery. If I want to get better on my job I should be determined to master everything about it. And that's what I did even before engaging with the company. I wanted to learn more about psychology so I enrolled myself on a masteral program and seek a job that is related to what I am studying to practice all the skills and use the training I gained from school. Lastly, the reason behind all these - our purpose. Why do we want to achieve our goals? That's the most important thing. We should be purpose maximisers not only profit maximisers. 

Money should not be our only motivator. If we want to achieve our goals and become a better person we should be able to exercise the three factors mentioned above: autonomy, mastery and purpose. If we are able to direct our lives, master the craft that we want and with a good purpose I am sure we would always be energized and motivated to walk towards our dreams. 

If you want to know more about what's motivating us watch the video.

Want to hear the whole lecture of Dan Pink check it here.

Credits to video owner: The RSA

I think I should focus more on motivations instead of procrastination. Haha! The video and the lecture is really great. It's a combination of Theories of Personality, Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Economics too.