- #Scenarios of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation how to#
- #Scenarios of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation full#
Over the past four years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people stress about - and have myself stressed about - “interview season” and recruiters coming from McKinsey or J.P. The amount of pressure on landing a “good” job and having something to do out of college is mind-boggling. This is the issue I have with our academic culture: It places too much emphasis on the successes of this first mountain. Each step is motivated by extrinsic factors, whether that be societal demands or a desire to stroke the ego: A good education is valued by employers, and securing a competitive job does a lot for one’s public image. Don’t get me wrong, these are all good things - but they don’t necessarily offer true happiness. Meanwhile, the underlying assumption is that through this process you will find happiness, whether that be from the validation you get attending a good school, having a desirable job or making a lot of money. You work hard, get into a prestigious school, secure a good internship and if all things go to plan come senior year, you’ll have a job offer from some fancy company. Many of us have been taught to view life through the lens of the first mountain. This framework not only helps us to distinguish what our extrinsic and intrinsic motivations truly are, but it also sheds light on a broader motivational problem underlying American higher education. To create a truly happy life, you need to do away with the motivations that propelled you up the first mountain. Climbing the second mountain, then, is a spiritual and empathetic experience, defined by embracing community, acting on behalf of others and pursuing joy.
But eventually there comes a breaking point: Often we realize that, even at the summit, we’re unhappy. This is a mountain defined by the school you went to and the career you made for yourself. When we climb the first mountain, our motivations are primarily individualistic and egotistical, often overly concerned with personal success and validation. Brooks examines what makes a happy life and finds that certain well-lived lives can be distilled into surmounting two mountains.
#Scenarios of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation full#
The full scope of Brooks’s essay is a bit too esoteric to discuss in a column, but I’ve found that the two-mountain framework he outlines is a helpful starting place to reflect on our time in college and our goals for the years to come.
#Scenarios of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation how to#
While Brooks doesn’t give advice on how to ace a job interview or build a successful career, he provides a grounding and insightful framework for what makes a “good” life - something I’ve given more thought to as my time in college draws to an end. After the interview, rather than stressing out about it - as I normally would - I chose to reread David Brooks’s essay “ The Moral Peril of Meritocracy,” and until sitting down to write this piece, I haven’t given my catastrophic job interview another thought. By the time my interview started, I was sweat-stained, frazzled and fully aware that I wasn’t going to get a call back. So, I did what any person would do in my situation: I calmly arranged to borrow a friend’s room then sprinted across campus.
An hour before my call, I found out tree cutters would be working directly outside my window. A few weeks ago, I bombed a job interview.