What Makes Goals Motivating?

Kaizen Creativity: The Science of Creativity & Innovation

What makes a goal motivating? Today, we’ll talk about a really simple way of understanding motivation. When you think of your goals, how much do you trust yourself to execute your plan. This is called self-efficacy, and it plays one of the most important roles in motivation.

Self-efficacy is the belief that you have the ability to succeed. People who have self-efficacy see themselves in the driver’s seat of their life.
The value of your goal depends on two things: How important is the outcome and how likely is it to happen? Take a gambling analogy. Your goal is the jackpot. How motivated you are depends on the size of the jackpot. You’ll try harder to win a million dollars than you would to win 10 dollars. The bigger and more meaningful your goal, the more motivated you’ll be to pursue it.
But probability is also important. How likely are you to win? If you knew there was literally a 0.00% chance of winning a million dollars, it would mean nothing to you. Even the compulsive gambler could stay away from that bet. But once the probability increases above 0%, the bet suddenly has value. If you multiply any number by zero, you still end up with zero. All creativity needs is a meaningful goal and the belief that it’s attainable. When motivation is in place, creativity is bound to follow. Without it, you find yourself in a constant struggle with procrastination.

As the chance of winning increases, you become more and more motivated to place a bet or buy a lottery ticket. The total value of your goal depends on these two factors: How important is the outcome and what chance do you have to get it?

Self-efficacy influences your perceived chance of winning. Self-efficacy is entirely subjective. The gambler will be motivated to buy lottery tickets because they FEEL that they have a good chance of winning. The actual chance of winning has nothing to do with it. You’re motivated by how you feel, not by what you know. If I feel relatively certain I can win the lottery, I’m going to play, regardless of the actual chance of winning.

The belief in your own ability is what motivates you to pursue your goals. Without it, it doesn’t matter what the jackpot is.
Kaizen Question:

• What kind of motivation hacks have you used in your own industry?
• How do your self-efficacy change in different stages of a project?
• Do you do anything to get self-efficacy back when you lose it?

LINKS:
Facebook.com/KaizenCreativity
JaredVolle.com/Podcast (useful links)

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