Fatalistic Motivation is Killing Me, I want Generative Motivation
I want to be happily motivated.
You do your homework.
Not because you have to but because you’ll flunk if you don’t.
So in a way you kinda do want to do your homework. If you truly didn’t you simply wouldn’t do it and assume the consequences of flunking.
Normally we only think Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic but there are a lot of ways to categorize motivation.
You want to wash the dishes to earn money.
You don’t want to wash the dishes, but you do it anyway to earn money.
You want to wash the dishes so you avoid being grounded.
You don’t want to wash the dishes, but you do it anyway so you are not grounded.
These four are the types of consequentialist motivation that exist.
We can make quadrants. You want/don’t want to do the action on the x-axis and in the y-axis if it’s because you want to avoid a punishment or earn a reward.
Some of these motivations might seem weird or redundant. Like “Huh, you want to wash the dishes to avoid punishment? This motivation seems fishy”. But their subtle distinctions reveal some interesting things about the nature of motivation.
For example, when you do things you don’t want to it’s because you desire something else. In many cases the thing you desire is an absence. The absence of flunking for instance. You don’t want to pass the course: you want to not flunk it. Same outcome, completely different desire.
You don’t want to do the homework, but you do want your parents to be proud of you or that they don’t scold you. Desire has levels, you will do something you don’t want to do because by doing it you will gain/avoid something you want afterwards.
Therefore within consequentialist motivation we can further divide it into two categories:
Fatalistic Motivation: When you don’t want to do something but you do it for the reward or punishment.
Generative Motivation: When you want to do something so you get a reward or avoid a punishment.
I think the key is to minimize Fatalistic Motivation. It freaking sucks. It damages the soul. I’m not exaggerating. When everything you do, you do despite that you don’t want to do it; your psyche gets severely damaged. You don’t feel agency. You don’t see yourself reflected in the fruits of your labor. You have this gaping feeling in your chest.
I always do my homework, but feel hollow afterwards.
From an external point of view it doesn’t matter if your motivation is fatalistic or generative, it just looks like you did the thing. That’s all that society expects of you. As long as you produce, it doesn’t matter in what creative ways you destroy yourself.
To feel motivated we have to strive to have Generative instead of Fatalistic motivation.
Personally, I’m not even aiming to be intrinsically motivated, I’ll be so incredibly happy if I am generatively motivated.
You want to go to your job so you get money and buy stylish clothes? Great! Go for it!!
With generative motivation you actually feel motivated, you want to do the thing. I think that’s the best feeling. Who gives a hoot if it’s intrinsic or extrinsic.
I want to want to wash the dishes to earn money. (reads like a tongue twister lol)
I want to do things. I’m sick of not wanting to do them and doing them anyway. It has already damaged my soul.
How do we transition from fatalistic to generative motivation? It’s tricky. Oh, so very tricky. I… I don’t know yet. Still trying to parse it out. But recently I’ve experienced it more. I hadn’t played video games in 6 months. And the act of choosing to play was ointment for my heart. One of the things I was doing I actually wanted to do. Instead of not wanting and doing it anyway. I stumbled into this feeling, I don’t know how to make it replicable for you reader. I’m working on further reflection to make this process legible. To make motivating ourselves a skill like any other.
Environment plays a bigger role than I thought; since I moved to Mexico City I’ve almost exclusively had Generative motivation. I wrote the draft of this article in January but only now published it. Funny how in the span of a couple months everything can change.
That’s it for this article! It was 1,528 words long, now it’s [769]. Always trying to bring you the most potent ideas dissolved in as few words as possible.
Hope you found it insightful and/or useful. I hope you have a wondrous day! *huggle*