There are many different types of motivation that you can use to help you succeed in life. For example, some people are motivated by money, while others are motivated by power or fame. Finally, some people are motivated by more noble causes, such as helping others or making the world better. Whichever type of motivation works best for you, make sure to harness it and use it to your advantage.

Get motivated

Staying motivated is essential to us humans. We require a good reason or something to drive us to continue doing what we must do. Without anything to motivate us, we find it difficult to commit to our activities. Motivation is the force that can compel us to do something.

There are several types of motivation, but one can primarily categorize them into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation refers to things that act as rewards for doing something. They can be tangible rewards like money or something intangible like receiving praise. Extrinsic motivators are found at the end of our efforts, and their presence is what gives us reason to push until the end so we can obtain what we want. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation falls on the intangible side of things. Intrinsic motivation provides internal rewards, such as personal development, learning new things, or deriving satisfaction from helping someone or other people. To achieve your goals, the process you have to do is enough to give you the drive to do things without external rewards.

One is not limited to getting motivation from either external or internal sources. It's possible to combine multiple sources of motivation depending on what works for you. The more things that can motivate you, the more motivated you can get things done in your life. Find out what works well for you and utilize them as much as possible.

1. Incentive motivation

Incentive motivation is a common type of motivation for many people. This type of motivation falls under extrinsic motivation and uses a reward system to propel individuals to do their best to get what they desire once a job or goal is complete. Monetary rewards such as salary, pay raise, or cash incentives and bonuses are typical incentive motivators. In addition, receiving praise or recognition for an excellent job done are also examples of incentive motivation. So if you are the type of person who likes being praised or receiving a reward for something that you accomplish, incentive motivation can work well for you.

2. Competence motivation

Competence motivation is a type of motivation where the process itself motivates an individual to continue doing something without relying on an external reward. This type of intrinsic motivation might be rare considering what it involves. Using the example of work, when you have this type of motivation, you can enjoy going to work every day because you like what you are doing, and money is not the sole factor in doing your job. Of course, we know that most of us will probably have money as a motivator than the work itself. When you have this type of motivation, you don't depend only on extrinsic rewards to motivate you, but learning new things from your job and getting better is enough to act as motivational forces.

3. Achievement motivation

Achievement motivation is an intrinsic motivation that works by using achievements and the satisfaction one gets from them as a motivating factor. One might think this type of motivation is more of an extrinsic motivator since you can only attain an achievement once you have completed something, but it's not. You get more intrinsically motivated with achievement motivation because you are after the feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment you can get once you achieve something. Because of this desire, you feel compelled to work hard and stay committed to your goals so you can achieve success and feel good about accomplishing something.

4. Fear motivation

One might wonder why anybody will use fear as a motivator, but it can work as a form of extrinsic motivation. There are consequences when we don't do well in various things in life, such as getting fired from a job, being criticized by others, losing possessions, or ending up in an unfavorable situation. For fear of receiving such consequences, one strives to work hard to avoid or prevent such instances from happening. It's like thinking about the worst-case scenario and exerting all your efforts to ensure it doesn't happen. If you are the type of person who leans more on the pessimistic side of things, you can turn around the negativity and use it instead as a pivot to motivate you instead.

5. Attitude motivation

Another form of intrinsic motivation is attitude motivation which works by making a person progress in something because of the desire to change how you think and feel. Usually, you will like to feel better or make other people feel better when you have attitude motivation as a driving force behind your actions. This type of motivation works well when your job involves working with other people or providing social services to others. If you are the type of person who feels happy when you make others feel good, this type of internal motivation can work well for you.

6. Power motivation

Power motivation is a type of extrinsic motivation that works by making individuals strive to work hard because of the desire to be at the top of their lives and gain better control of one's own life and the lives of other people. Gaining more power and control in life provides more options that lead to better opportunities. Ambitious individuals and those that dream high benefit well from this type of external motivation. People motivated by power make a conscious effort to be better and aim higher to get the life they want.

7. Affiliation motivation

Affiliation motivation is an extrinsic motivation that utilizes social factors like acceptance, belonging, and being perceived well by others as external motivators to help us work hard. By seeking to belong and wishing to connect with others, a person can be more motivated to contribute to a more significant cause that benefits a group of people. When people notice you doing good things for them, they will accept you and treat you well. The external validation and acceptance that others can provide to you make affiliation motivation work as an external motivation for many people because of the need to belong to a particular group of people.

Motivation helps you succeed with your goals.

Motivation is beneficial in making us focus on our goals and commit to them to achieve success. There are several types of motivation, internal or external factors, and what works well for you will depend on your personality and working style. However, utilizing external and intrinsic motivations can significantly help you achieve what you want in life, whether using material things as a reward or internally motivated through self-improvement. There will always be something to look forward to whenever you do something. Whatever motivational strategy you wish to employ, you are bound to get positive results, and your skills will develop further if your focus and desire to work and do something is consistently at an optimal level.