Motivation Code

This video is about motivation, and now we tend to think that motivation is something that just, I don’t know, comes in waves or kind of a rush or a burst of energy, or when there’s a certain incentive in place, like a bonus or something, we get motivated to do stuff. And of course, in some small examples or minor instances, that is the case, but in general, we all, as individuals, have what we can call core motivational drives. There’s some interesting literature on this if you look into the M Code or Motivation Code, which is a tool that I’ve enjoyed using in the past. It’s the idea that since a very young age, you probably had certain actions that you found very intrinsically fulfilling or behaviors or activities that felt really engaging, right? And there was sort of a payout you got, so to speak, that came from something in the process itself, right? Maybe you always wanted to be the star of the show, so you were in the band or on a sports team, and you got a lot from that. But maybe it was something else; maybe you were on that same sports team, but your sort of motivational payoff didn’t come from being the star but from having this close connection with teammates, right, and sort of working behind the scenes.

So what we’re going to do is an activity that’s great for building connections on a team, but also for helping you better understand yourself. This is really analyzing your motivational pattern. And so here is what you’re going to do: you’re going to break into pairs for this, and each of you is going to share with one another a story of what we call deeply fulfilling action. So you’re going to want to kind of think back on a few things that you have enjoyed doing, that you believe you did well, and that you found deeply satisfying. And I want you to focus on two things here: the action that you did, and number two, the things that you found intrinsically rewarding and deeply satisfying.

So if you say, “Oh, you know, I did this project, and a bunch of people recognized me for it and said I was super great, and I got featured in the news,” that, if it didn’t really feel like it was something that mattered that much to you had no one known about it, that may not be the type of example you want. I’ll share a couple of examples here.

I had a job processing transactions, and I developed a method that allowed me to do them faster and with greater accuracy. I really love this idea of mapping out the common patterns in every single one and then identifying the most efficient way to do it. You could say, “I was the co-founder of this side business idea. You know, I saw this potential product and had to do with the early marketing, and so I just loved this idea of talking to people about what they needed and how our product could actually satisfy that, and then design communications around that.”

Whatever it is, just make this your own and don’t get too caught up in the details I just gave you or the instructions. Just think, what is a story or a couple of stories of deeply fulfilling action, and just talk about those with your partner, okay? So each of you is going to share for a couple of minutes, and as the partner, feel free to ask questions, right? What was significant about that to you? What exactly did you do? What was the outcome of what you did? How did you feel about what you did, right? Those sorts of good coaching-type questions can be really powerful during this.

So each of you is going to share, and then as you come out of this, you can reflect on the story you told. What did that mean for you, right? And what does it say about what motivates you and the types of actions and behaviors that you find really intrinsically rewarding? You can maybe start to think about how you can bring more of that into your working or personal life.

So, thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.