Intrinsic Motivation

I had to move some things around this week, so I skipped my regular workout yesterday, and worked out with Lisa this morning, with her coach Matt Cormier.

The conditioning part of the workout was a 15 minute AMRAP of 10 ring rows, 10 plate squats, and a 200 meter run. 

The running route was out Matt’s garage door, up his driveway, onto the street, around the corner, and back.

In my later rounds, as I was getting fatigued, I thought about stopping for a break, or at least slowing down, at the 100 metre turnaround point.

Matt couldn’t see me.

Lisa couldn’t see me.

Who would know?!

But I didn’t.

Because I realized that I wasn’t there for them.

I wouldn’t be cheating them out of anything, I’d be cheating myself. Robbing myself of the opportunity to discover if I could keep going.

So I kept going. I completed 5 rounds.

Later in the day I read this, from Matthew McConaughey, in his weekly newsletter:

​Self-Determination Theory, developed by psychologists Richard Ryan, PhD and Edward Deci, PhD, has changed the way we look at motivation: it shows how intrinsic, high-quality motivation (that satisfies the basic human needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in work) leads to the best experience and performance – as opposed to extrinsic motivation that is driven by rewards like money or social status. So define success for yourself. The real you.

I’ve always believed that, in my heart of hearts. I was glad to have it confirmed empirically on the asphalt this morning.