Intrinsic Motivation: Search For Meaning

The search for meaning is central to intrinsic motivation and personal fulfillment. Having a purpose, clarifying what is most important to us, serves to build the way forward every day, so that we never lose direction. It is the only way to show passion and happiness in their choices, protecting them from those who try to get away from our life path.

Strange as it may seem, in psychological practice it is common for patients to be asked a very specific question: “which word defines you best? What are your values? What does life mean for you? ”. In a certain sense, the existentialist foundation that Viktor Frankl bequeathed with logotherapy comes to light, thanks to which it is possible to bring to light the intrinsic  (or primary) motivation of every human being.

Today many specialists point out that this goal, the search for meaning, is one of the basic needs of a large part of the population. We live today a sense of emptiness and discomfort. If a few decades ago religion and spirituality tried to fill in some way the doubts, the abysses and the personal drifts, today we need much more.

Perhaps man has definitively put aside that need to understand his origins or his role and position in the cosmos. On the other hand, today science offers precise answers to any question. Furthermore, we have access to a large amount of information. However, in this present defined by great technological advances, new and deeper voids appear, parallel to other anxieties.

“Why we are here? What do we expect from ourselves? ”. Instead of questioning the meaning of life, we now question our relationship with life and our ego.

Intrinsic motivation, a commitment to oneself

We have been taught that motivation can be of two types: extrinsic and intrinsic. The first is orchestrated by the need to perform certain behaviors in order to receive an external reward, an objective reinforcement. On the contrary, intrinsic motivation is that in which the person acts in a certain way for pure pleasure, without the need for external incentives.

A study conducted at the University of Strathfield (Australia) revealed that this last motivational dimension is regulated by a series of very specific processes. Important realities such as creativity, curiosity, reflection, critical thinking, initiative and proactive behavior orchestrate the impulse of intrinsic motivation.

For a good part of our lives, we have been educated according to the parameters that govern extrinsic motivation, namely: “If you do this, you will receive a reward. Be good and I’ll buy you that toy. If you pass the exam I will pay you for the trip ”.

Society itself manipulates us into even the simplest behavioral styles, basing them on rewards, punishments and reinforcements. Basically, we have lived with such awareness of that “external hand” that gratifies us, that in its absence we could lose our orientation. Remaining subordinate to the outside world creates inner gaps, blocks initiatives, the creative impulse, the feeling of challenge, the courage to independently seek one’s own “prizes”.

The search for meaning is a personal obligation

The search for meaning shapes our intrinsic motivation. When we find a reason to live, a passion, that golden thread that guides dreams, values ​​and determinations, everything changes. But how do you get there? Today we are so full of obligations, pressures, constraints and environmental noises that it is difficult to find one’s reason for being.

However, there is one aspect that we must never lose sight of: the human being is ingenious, courageous, opportunistic. The search for meaning can be done in any scenario and situation:

• Talk to others, trying to stimulate new points of view.
• Travel.
• Read a book, discover new things.
• Learn something new, open your mind to new knowledge.
• Attend conferences and meetings.

• Play a sport
• Meet new people

But let’s also take a look at some key dimensions:

A commitment to yourself

The search for meaning involves engaging with oneself. It means, for example, not putting off your needs until tomorrow, giving yourself the right time, letting go, indulging your dreams and desires, taking care of yourself, giving yourself new opportunities to experiment, discover. ..

Be curious, create, innovate

Sometimes there is no choice but to cancel everything and start over. We have been mediated for so long by extrinsic motivations and that need to be accepted or rewarded that we have forgotten how exciting it is to step out of that fence and challenge the world.

Try to think differently, to be creative, to innovate with ideas, behaviors, projects … Courage leads to new discoveries and the search for meaning emerges through the ability to do new things, to get out of the routine.

Finding a vital purpose is a personal obligation that we should all work on. Make your existential void diminish by filling it with experiences, novelties, opportunities. Life can often reveal not one, but multiple meanings into which we can pour all our motivations.