DRIVEN TO THE "TAB" BY Justin Meeks
by Justin "Beiber" Meeks
(South East Asia)
Why On Earth Would I Want To Do That?
Many people in this world always wonder why they want to do a certain thing in life. Whether it is a simple goal or a daunting feat, we always ask ourselves the same thing. People have been studying this phenomenon and they have broken it down into two simple categories, Intrinsic and Extrinsic. These two words simply mean, Interior and exterior. You might still be laying in bed wondering why you want to get up and start your day, whether it’s that new promotion or just to prove to yourself that you can do it. The fact of the matter is we are all driven by desire. We all want something different out of life and that is what impacts our motivation.
Intrinsic motivation can be defined as simply as Honor. One who is driven by Intrinsic factors has the will to complete task just to say that one did it. No other factors contribute to his performance other than his desire to say he has done it. How do you deny one who fights just to say he beat you? How do you break the will of the one who has no aspirations? Easy, you can’t. Someone who is motivated by an interior factor is not easily broken, they will do everything in their power to reach their goal before anyone else. They will push themselves one-hundred and ten percent harder than anyone else will because they have heart. There are various movies that portray characters with Intrinsic motivation. My favorite however is “Never Back Down”, it’s a story of a young teen who moves to a new town and ends up fighting in a Fight Club. His very first fight he loses, but he has enough heart and determination to train for months and return and beat the teen who beat him in the beginning. There was no medal or prize money, he won for the sure prize of honor.
Extrinsic Motivation can simply be described as a Bonus. A person who is driven by Extrinsic Motivation has will, but not necessarily heart. That individual is driven solely on the acknowledgement of his goals. He wants to be awarded medals and prizes for this achievements. Though the individual may have Honor, he is not driven by honor, he is driven by greed. This is easy to see based on the way the individual works when there is a certain prize to be won. An individual who is driven by material things can be easily beaten or deterred. Simply, take the material prize or medal away from the equation and you remove one motivation to succeed. On the other hand, the one who is driven by honor keeps fighting until the bitter end, regardless of the material prize. Movies have tried and portray these individuals who strive on material prizes, however, in these movies there are all successful. I completely disagree with the way these extrinsic motivated individuals are portrayed. I am not saying that all individuals who are driven by material things aren’t successful, I am simply saying that I would not chose to be motivated by something that can be easily taken away from my possession.
Motivation is harbored in each and every one of us human beings. I believe that I am an individual who is driven off intrinsic motivation. I believe this because I do not have many awards or prizes to show for my achievements in life. It wasn’t until the Army, that I started to truly see extrinsic motivators. Take Physical Fitness for examples, I was one who always ran harder and faster than anyone else in our company, and most of the time for no reason. I just want to be able to say “I beat you”. There was no prize or medal awarded to the fastest soldier in our company. My Battle Buddies would often ask me why I always ran faster, or sprinted the last lap. I never really knew how to answer, because to me, it was simply, self-satisfaction. Then, one day at the chow hall, I spotted a Staff Sergeant with a “Ranger” Tab on his left sleeve. Rangers are an elite infantry troop who undergoes tough and rigorous training.
It wasn’t until that moment I began to be motivated on Extrinsic factors. All I wanted was that “Ranger” Tab, no self-satisfaction was felt. My entire body was driven on earning that tab and being able to show the entire United States Army that I passed “Ranger” School. A few weeks later, I began to doubt if I would ever go to Ranger school if there was no tab. I still believed that I would go to that school and pass regardless of the Tab. I guess you can say that I was driven by both, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Though, extrinsic motivation sparked my interested in the School, I still have aspirations to attend Ranger School regardless of the “Ranger” Tab. I want to push my body to the limit and see just want exactly my potential lies. It is then, that you truly discover what drives you to get out of bed in the morning regardless of who is watching.
This is the part of the paper where you start to wonder what drives you, what makes you sprint the last lap of a race, what makes you keep fighting even when losing is imminent. Each and every human being who reads the above statement will answer differently than the person beside them. Everyone on this planet is driven by something else, whether it is for Honor, Power, that bonus that you Boss Promised, or a one million dollar grand prize. That’s the beauty of motivation though, everyone is motivated by what they want out of life and that is why we are such a powerful race. You can’t simply figure out one of us and see the whole puzzle, you have to look deep into our souls and see where our aspiration lie and it is there that you will find what drives us, as human beings, and as a race.
References
Types of Motivation:
https://www.leadership-central.com/types-of-motivation.html#axzz1nT8vhfuf
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