Why We Do What We Do: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

We’ve all heard that money can’t buy us happiness. Or as the Beatles rightly pointed out, it can’t buy you love either.

However, despite this knowledge, we are surrounded by on average 3,000 advertisements a day telling us that success and happiness comes from earning a lot of money, achieving fame and being physically beautiful. It’s little wonder we strive towards achieving these things in hope that they will equal happiness.

In this 4-minute video, Brian Johnson, author of Philosopher’s Notes, explains how we can break this cycle of extrinsic motivation by become more intrinsically motivated; simply by focusing on attaining meaningful relationships, growing as a human being and contributing. Not surprisingly, not only does this make you a better person, research has shown that it also makes you more psychologically happy and stable, too.

via Why We Do What We Do: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation | FinerMinds.