The Science of Motivation | Ayelet Fishbach
Dr. Ayelet Fishbach, Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, discusses science-backed strategies for motivation. She shares insights on setting and monitoring goals, leveraging intrinsic motivation, and overcoming challenges to get things done.
Deep Dive Analysis
17 Topic Outline
Introduction to Motivation Science and Guest
Dr. Fishbach's Journey into Motivation Research
Choosing Effective Goals: Approach vs. Avoidance
Understanding Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Techniques for Making Goals More Exciting
Developing a Personal Goal System
Strategies for Managing Multiple Conflicting Goals
The Power of Quantifying Goals ('Put a Number on It')
Best Practices for Monitoring Goal Progress
Cultivating Satisfaction and Savoring Achievements
Wisely Letting Go of Goals and Reframing Setbacks
The Science of Incentives and Rewards
Learning from Negative Feedback and Failure
Developing and Applying Self-Control Strategies
The Importance and Cultivation of Patience
Leveraging Social Support for Goal Achievement
The Role of Feeling Known in Relationships
9 Key Concepts
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is pursuing something as an end in itself, where the means and the end collide. When purely intrinsically motivated, it doesn't make sense to ask why you're doing it, as the reason is simply to do the activity itself. This type of motivation is the best predictor of engagement, more so than extrinsic motivation.
Approach Goals
Approach goals are 'do goals' where you aim to achieve something specific, such as 'getting a job' or 'owning a house.' These goals are generally more intrinsically motivating and more likely to be achieved compared to avoidance goals.
Avoidance Goals
Avoidance goals, or 'do not goals,' involve aiming to stop doing something, like 'stop eating red meat.' While they may seem urgent, they are harder to pursue because checking progress brings the forbidden item to mind, and they can trigger psychological reactance, making people want to do the opposite.
Goal System
A goal system is a personal diagram illustrating the main goals in one's life, how they relate to each other, and how they connect to the activities being pursued. Ideally, goals within this system do not conflict, and some activities can help achieve multiple goals simultaneously.
Multifinal Means
Multifinal means refer to activities that help achieve more than one goal at the same time. For example, bringing lunch from home can achieve goals related to health, saving money, reducing food waste, and benefiting the environment. This strategy is particularly useful when resources are limited.
Psychological Reactance
Psychological reactance is the phenomenon where telling someone not to do something often makes them want to do that very thing. This is why 'do not' goals can be counterproductive, as the act of trying to avoid something can increase the temptation to engage in it.
Action Crisis
An action crisis occurs when an individual needs to give up on a goal, perhaps because it no longer aligns with their health, life stage, job, or family situation. During this period, it's beneficial to assess if there's intrinsic pleasure in pursuing the goal, separate from its achievement.
Framing
Framing is the act of choosing the title or perspective one puts on a situation or experience. For instance, deciding whether to call a goal change 'giving up' or 'finding a new calling' can significantly influence motivation and how one perceives their journey and setbacks.
Growth Mindset
A growth mindset involves framing negative experiences or failures in terms of learning and growth, focusing on what was gained rather than just the setback. This perspective helps people get up and try again, as it emphasizes improvement and the potential to acquire new knowledge or talent.
15 Questions Answered
Intrinsic motivation, where an activity is pursued for its own sake, is the best predictor of engagement and better predicts what people do compared to extrinsic motivation. When you value the activity itself, you are more likely to stick with it.
To make goals more exciting, ask 'why' multiple times to connect the task to a deeper, more abstract meaning or purpose. Stop asking 'why' when the goal becomes too abstract (like 'to be happy') and instead ask 'how' to connect it back to actionable steps.
While some people like to-do lists, it's more recommended to understand your 'goal system' – a diagram of your main life goals and how they relate to each other and your activities. This helps ensure goals don't conflict and that activities can serve multiple purposes.
When facing too many goals, consider whether to prioritize (letting some go) or balance them. For balancing, look for 'multifinal means' – activities that help achieve more than one goal, especially when resources are limited.
Avoidance goals ('do not' goals) are generally less effective than approach goals. They are harder to pursue because monitoring progress brings the forbidden item to mind, and they can trigger psychological reactance, making you want to do the opposite.
Putting a number on a goal (e.g., 10,000 steps) makes it easy to monitor and creates a clear target. Falling short of the number feels like a loss, prompting extra effort to meet the goal, even if the number itself is arbitrary.
Always monitor progress, as it increases motivation. For novices or uncommitted individuals, it's better to look back at what has been achieved (glass half full) up to the midpoint. Beyond the midpoint, it's more effective to look ahead at what still needs to be done.
To savor progress, use self-rewards, celebrate milestones, and reflect on what you've achieved. Remind yourself that achievements exist and enjoy the process of discovery and pursuit, not just the ultimate goal, to foster a healthier relationship with your goals.
Knowing when to let go involves recognizing an 'action crisis' where a goal no longer fits your life. The distinction between 'giving up' and 'readjusting' is largely a matter of 'framing' – choosing the story you tell yourself about the change, which you largely control.
Incentives can work, but they must be used carefully, as they don't always produce the expected results (e.g., breeding rats for bounty). For self-motivation, incentives should be seen as 'mini goals,' ideally a bit unpredictable, and not so large as to distract from the main goal.
Negative feedback is valuable because it provides information on 'how not to do something,' allowing for learning by elimination. It helps you understand what doesn't work, guiding you to try alternative approaches, though it requires a mental flip to learn from it rather than disengage emotionally.
Self-control is not innate; it develops over a long time, often into one's twenties. It can be assisted by strategies like identifying temptations (by multiplying the action in your mind to see its cumulative harm) and anticipating them in advance to prepare for resistance.
Patience is important because delayed rewards tend to be bigger, helping you choose 'larger, later' options over 'smaller, sooner' ones. It can be cultivated by making decisions in advance (e.g., for tomorrow rather than today) and recognizing that waiting can actually increase enjoyment of the reward.
Social support is crucial because humans are social animals who conform to what others do. Working with others on shared goals, or being supported by someone who wants you to succeed, significantly increases motivation and the likelihood of achieving personal goals.
Relationships are stronger when people support each other's goals. Feeling 'known' by your partner – meaning they understand and can help you with your goals – is a better predictor of relationship satisfaction than how much you know them, as it signifies support.
15 Actionable Insights
1. Choose Exciting, Approach Goals
Mark a destination and know where you are going by setting approach goals (do goals) that are exciting and intrinsically motivated, rather than avoidance goals (do not goals) or chores, to increase the likelihood of achievement. Ensure goals fit your current life and other commitments.
2. Find Intrinsic Motivation
Identify or cultivate intrinsic motivation for your goals by finding ways to enjoy the process itself, not just the long-term outcome, as this is the best predictor of engagement and sustained effort. If you don’t like an activity, find an intrinsically motivating alternative that feels good.
3. Ask “Why” to Find Meaning
To make goals more inspiring and persistent, repeatedly ask “why” you are pursuing a goal to uncover its deeper meaning and connection to positive change. Stop when you can clearly link it to actionable steps, avoiding overly abstract goals like ‘being happy’.
4. Understand Your Goal System
Instead of just a to-do list, map out your main life goals and their interrelationships to ensure they don’t conflict and to identify activities that can achieve multiple goals simultaneously. This provides a clearer understanding of what is currently important in your life.
5. Use Multifinal Means for Multiple Goals
When balancing multiple goals, especially with limited resources, seek out “multifinal means” or activities that help you achieve more than one goal simultaneously. For example, combine exercising with a social activity or family vacations to get more for the same activity.
6. Monitor Progress Strategically
Consistently monitor your progress, as it increases motivation and provides positive feelings of satisfaction and pride. For novices or early stages (up to the midpoint), focus on what you’ve already achieved; beyond the midpoint, focus on what remains to be done to maintain momentum.
7. Celebrate Milestones & Enjoy the Process
Actively savor progress and celebrate milestones through self-rewards and reflection to foster a sense of achievement and present happiness, rather than solely focusing on future goals. Recognize that goals are often there just to get you going, and the pursuit itself can be a source of satisfaction.
8. Frame Setbacks as Growth
Actively choose to frame negative experiences and failures in terms of growth and learning, rather than as proof of inability, to maintain motivation and encourage future attempts. You have the flexibility to decide how to think about your setbacks, which significantly influences your motivation.
9. Develop Self-Control, Anticipate Temptations
Cultivate self-control by first identifying temptations, recognizing that seemingly harmless single instances accumulate into problems. Anticipate upcoming temptations and obstacles in advance, as preparing for these challenges makes you more likely to resist them and adhere to your important goals.
10. Cultivate Patience with Advance Decisions
Develop patience by making decisions about delayed gratification in advance, as it’s easier to choose larger, later rewards when the decision isn’t immediate. Additionally, waiting for a reward often increases your enjoyment of it, creating a win-win situation.
11. Leverage Social Support for Goals
Actively enlist and provide social support for goals, as people conform to those around them and relationships strengthen when partners support each other’s objectives. Seek out people who actively want you to succeed, and foster relationships by helping others achieve their goals, as feeling “known” and supported is critical for satisfaction.
12. Set Specific Numerical Goals
Quantify your goals with specific numbers (“how much, how soon”) to make them easy to monitor and create a sense of loss if you fall short, which can powerfully motivate you to push through. Be cautious that the number truly aligns with the ultimate goal, to avoid discouragement if the number is missed but the true goal is still served.
13. Avoid “Do Not” Goals
Refrain from setting “do not” or avoidance goals because they are harder to pursue, bring the unwanted behavior to mind when monitoring progress, and can trigger psychological reactance, making you more tempted to do the forbidden action. Focus on what you will do instead.
14. Seek, Learn from Negative Feedback
Actively seek and value negative feedback because it contains valuable information that teaches you how not to do something, guiding you towards success by elimination. Overcome the emotional tendency to disengage by making the mental flip to understand what alternative actions to try.
15. Use Smart, Uncertain Self-Incentives
When incentivizing yourself, make rewards a bit unpredictable (not always guaranteed) to keep excitement high, like a game or lottery. Ensure the incentive is not so large that it distracts from the main goal or encourages shortcuts, but rather serves as an additional reason to pursue the desired behavior.
5 Key Quotes
Intrinsic motivation predicts what people do better than extrinsic motivation. That is, how much you value what you do, how much it feels like an end in itself is the best predictor of engagement.
Ayelet Fishbach
If you stop for a while to evaluate what you have achieved, okay, so you're writing a book, which is a very familiar task for me, just published mine a few months ago. As you're writing, there are some things that you've already discovered. There are some insights that are already there. And the question is how much you allow yourself to indulge in that, to be proud of that, to enjoy what you have achieved so that there is a sense of achievement that is not always just a step on the way to move to something else.
Ayelet Fishbach
The interesting thing about studying people's goal systems and motivation is that we are not machines that are designed to pursue goals that we are giving to us. We need to decide on the goals.
Ayelet Fishbach
When we get negative feedback, we learn how not to do something. You can refer to this as learning by elimination or learning that if this way doesn't work, then I should take that. The other way, there is a lesson. If I parent my meal, I don't have dinner, but I have a lesson.
Ayelet Fishbach
Most people say that they know the other person more than the other person knows them. And this is, of course, a bias... But what was interesting is that what was a better predictor of relationship satisfaction was how much you felt known.
Ayelet Fishbach