The road to motivation

BY JAYDE SIMMS

Stop procrastinating! Do your homework! Clean your room! Finish answering your emails!

These sentiments are likely shared quite frequently in the home and indeed, at school. Motivation is important, yet elusive. A lack of motivation often hangs over our heads. In this article I intend to explore what motivation is, share two strategies for building motivation and present one long-game tactic (positive feedback) to keep conditions ready for motivation to grow.

As with all our mental health skills, whether adults or children, the skill remains largely the same, although the context may change. Motivation is just yet another example of a skill that both children and adults need to develop and should be constantly re-visiting and working on. We are never a finished product, and we cannot simply ‘learn’ motivation and be done with it. However, what a life that would be!

We also know that there must be a pre-requisite of emotional safety (Maslow, 1943) before we begin to develop any skill (see previous article ‘Resilience in Children’).

Motivators typically fall into two categories – intrinsic (internal, self-motivation) and extrinsic (external, stickers, money...). When I think of extrinsic motivation, I think of the classic school strategies – stickers, treasure boxes and so on. Intrinsic motivation is perceived as the ‘end goal’ that children ‘should’ master before they become adults, hopefully relying less on extrinsic strategies.

But I am called to wonder, is intrinsic ‘better’ than extrinsic? Are extrinsic motivators for children and intrinsic motivators for adults? When does the shift happen, if at all? 

If you do that, then I’ll give you this...!

Personally, I enjoy extrinsic rewards – as will many of you, probably! Be that a sticker (perhaps that’s the teacher in me) or a pay-rise. But how effective are they at truly motivating me? For example, to complete a very undesirable task, such as giving my dog his bath after a day at work, would offering me a sticker or some ringgit motivate me? Probably not, honestly. So, although enjoyable in the right context, extrinsic motivation cannot always be the answer.

Extrinsic motivation is broken down into two strands - ‘if-then’ and ‘now-that’. Research shows (Pink, 2009) that providing an extrinsic reward before beginning the task (‘if-then’) can have some unintended negative consequences. For instance, “if you _______ then you will ________” signals to our brain that a task is undesirable. A reward must be necessary because the task is boring or complicated. Let’s tie this back to children. Offering a lot of ‘if-then’ rewards can send the message that ‘good’ behaviour is challenging or boring – so much so that a reward or bribe is needed.

To be clear, ‘good’ behaviour looks different for different children and can even look different on different days depending on the context. For the purpose of this article, the phrase ‘good behaviour’ refers to a positive outcome for that individual, whatever that looks like in reality.

Using only extrinsic ‘if-then’ rewards can also unintentionally put a cap on what can be achieved and as a result, creativity and autonomy are limited. For example, “if you write three sentences, then I will give you a sticker”. The child will now almost certainly write three sentences only, to receive the sticker. Some wily children might write six rushed sentences to get two stickers! However, what if that child is capable of writing four fantastically creative sentences and an insightful illustration? By limiting the goal to three sentences = sticker, the brain laser focuses on what is needed to receive the reward. Thereby closing off any tangents and possible creativity or further skill development.

However, using ‘if-then’ rewards and extrinsic motivators are not entirely ineffective. They can work beautifully for routine or unpleasant tasks (such as washing the dishes) or just from time-to-time because sometimes we all love a sticker or a bonus – and that is okay.

If-then Vs. Now-that

The ‘now-that’ extrinsic motivation strategy is similar but with some very key differences. For example, in my own classroom a few years ago, I threw out the old behaviour charts in favour of individual ‘teacher-mails’.

These are still extrinsic rewards. But the difference here is that there are no pre-required set of actions, as per and ‘if-then’ strategy. It is based on the premise of “now you have completed some excellent writing with adjectives, that means I am sending a note home to share your creativity and independence”.

This has had a much more positive impact because extrinsic motivators are not bad, if they are used in a way that does not limit the recipient. In fact, they can motivate beautifully. However, the issue is that extrinsic motivators can simply become “unsustainable” (Ryan, 2023). What about when extrinsic motivators are not offered?

My motivation, my choice

Evidence shows that a feeling of choice and autonomy can unlock a powerful source of motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2000). Allowing me to choose my own adventure frees me to achieve a dictated result in my own way. This results in me being more engaged in the process. Could a lack of motivation be a lack of engagement?

When I think about tasks that I am decidedly not motivated to do, I am certainly not engaged in the task. I am perhaps distracted or bored by the task. As adults trying to coax a child to complete a task, it can be tempting to control how that outcome comes about. Control eventually leads to compliance, but autonomy leads to engagement. Only one of these fosters motivation.

Getting inside a child’s mind and helping them to tap into what their goals are, encouraging them to set their own targets (perhaps alongside adult modelling) removes the element of control and creates the possibility of both adult and child finding motivation to complete a task in their own way. Is autonomy the foundation of that ‘mysterious intrinsic motivation’?

We know through research that when we have choice and are engaged in a task, we can enter a state of ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). This is the familiar ‘losing-track-of-time' feeling that you will have experienced before. In this state we are much more likely to achieve ‘mastery’ of a skill. It is possible that it is from this sense of mastery that joy, interest and motivation develop. So, creating choice is another road to motivation.

A culture of feedback

If choice is a building block of intrinsic motivation, what to do if we or our children are still struggling to feel motivated even with a ‘now-that’ extrinsic system and with plenty of choice built in?

Well, there will be days when these two strategies motivate beautifully and some days when they are less, or even completely ineffective. This is completely normal. It is all about being compassionate to ourselves and continuously training our brains with repeated effort. The more we use the strategies, the more effective they will become. Like a path well-trodden.

One thing that can support the above strategies is a daily habit of positive feedback. But feedback can spark motivation or destroy it. Using feedback well can create an environment that is conducive to motivation. Effective feedback sounds like praising effort and strategy over intelligence which is more likely to spark motivation in the future. We can draw here on the Character Strengths that we use to teach our Positive Education curriculum. Complimenting the perseverance rather than the outcome increases the likelihood of being motivated to attempt a difficult task again.

Success is not in our control, but the effort that we can put into a task is in our control. Interestingly, praise is more effective if it is very specific, private and with a good reason behind it.

Using positive feedback with skill can increase the frequency of episodes of intrinsic motivation.

Moving forward

We have discussed two strategies to help us develop into well-rounded, mostly motivated people. From the ‘now-that’ extrinsic rewards to making time for choice and flow states to foster intrinsic motivation. We have explored the idea that doing feedback right creates the environment for motivation to begin and continue growing.

As with all of our personal development skills, whilst they start from within; both school and home have a dual role in allowing them to grow and supporting them to flourish. With the pre-cursor of feeling safe, ‘now-that’ rewards when appropriate, choice, and good quality positive feedback, we are simply optimising the conditions for motivation to occur.

We might have bad days and we cannot fully control our own or others’ motivations. But we can foster the most optimal environment and give motivation the best chance possible. The road to motivation is never straightforward but one that, with practise and compassion, might become more familiar.

I hope that after reading this article, you can find the motivation to tick something off your to-do list. Be that through a reward, choosing your own path to do it or by receiving positive feedback.