Alex Nottingham JD MBA discusses how to create and sustain motivation by understanding its workings. He explains the two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
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About Alex Nottingham JD MBA
Alex is the CEO and Founder of All-Star Dental Academy®. He is a former Tony Robbins top coach and consultant, having worked with companies upwards of $100 million. His passion is to help others create personal wealth and make a positive impact on the people around them. Alex received his Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Florida International University.
Episode Transcript
Transcript performed by A.I. Please excuse the typos.
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Hi everyone, I’m Alex Nottingham, founder and CEO of All -Star Dental Academy. How do we create and sustain motivation? How do we overcome the lack of interest, overwhelm, fear of failure, and potential burnout? Well, first, we must understand how it all works. How does motivation work? And I’m going to share with you these two types of motivation or two aspects. One is intrinsic and one is extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is internal desires. It’s a joy from the activity itself. It has an inherent satisfaction versus a reward and recognition component. On the other hand, you have extrinsic motivation. Now with Extrinsic motivation, these are going to be activities for external rewards. It’s going to be this avoidance or fear of failing.
It’s going to be tangible rewards and social recognition. So there’s some aspect of fear that if we don’t get it and there’s elation if we do get it. Let’s go over some examples with exercise. This could be external, could be big muscles, big muscles. It could be getting thin for others. Now on the intrinsic side for working out and exercise, it’s health, it’s longevity, it’s strength.
When it comes to work, extrinsic could be money, others’ approval, advancement. Intrinsic motivation for work could be pride in what you do. Can I, which is continuous and never -ending improvement. It could be serving others. What about getting a car, a new car? Well, extrinsic could be what does it look like? What do other people think about the car? Intrinsic is how does the car drive? How does it…
What’s the experience like? And I’ll give you an example about the videos and podcasts that I do. Extrinsic. How many likes do I get? How many comments am I getting? Who’s following? Who’s subscribing? Intrinsic. What’s the message? That I want to share the message. I have this need to share and I love sharing. It’s creative. The whole process is creative. Those are more intrinsically motivated. What about
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personal development, extrinsic, what I want to change now about myself or that I need to change, intrinsic is it’s the process of improving. Who will I be in the long run? That’s an intrinsic motivation. Now there are benefits and drawbacks. Benefits of intrinsic motivation is it’s more sustainable for the long term. You’re going to have more immersion and more feelings of flow.
Extrinsic motivation benefits are going to be immediate direction and focus, especially for tasks and clear objectives. You’re also going to have a powerful incentive for improving performance. There are challenges. Intrinsic motivation challenges. Well, your efforts may go unnoticed. You may feel undervalued. What if the activities don’t align with your core values and your interests? When it comes to extrinsic challenges,
You may be relying heavily on external results and praise. You may undermine the intrinsic motivation and thereby reduce joy in what you’re doing and the activities that you’re doing. So how do we integrate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? First, make sure that you appreciate the value of both motivations. There is merit to both. And find a balance of the two.
Many achievers are going to be 20 % intrinsic, 80 % extrinsic. I would say that probably a healthy balance is 50 -50 or even 80 % intrinsic, 20 % extrinsic. Extrinsic, you’re going to need for direction and pragmatism. You got to do something that makes sense. It’s got to have some practical application.
But then once you establish that, you keep the long -term perspective. You say, now I’m going intrinsic. I’m going to have a power plan. I’m going to have flow. I’m going to have excitement. That’s what’s going to drive the motivation ultimately to last for the long term. And you want to foster an environment to nurture the intrinsic. That’s going to give you more autonomy, more mastery, more purpose.
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And in so many wisdom traditions, they say focus on the action, not the fruits of the action. So here’s a motivational framework. First, set an aspirational goal that’s intrinsic, coming from your heart, your purpose. Second, confirm the merit and the opportunity cost. Is it worth my time? What else could I be doing? That’s extrinsic. Third, access your joy, your flow, your expansion.
intrinsic. And lastly, fourth, measure results for the long term. That’s a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. So as you can see, motivation requires a proper balance of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Long lasting motivation, you’re going to balance more of the intrinsic over the extrinsic. And remember to apply the four steps of the motivational framework.
set the aspirational goal, confirm the merit and opportunity cost, access your joy and expansion and flow, and lastly measure the results long term. Thanks for listening. Remember to follow, subscribe, comment, and share. And until next time, go out there and be an All -Star.
