Intrinsic or Extrinsic............which are you?

ninerbuff

Most people rely on a combination of both types of motivation. I thought the writing example was particularly bad because any writer with talent writes in part to be published. Even the most brooding, dedicated and solitary writers want the extrinsic reward of publication, recognition, and money.

There are thousands of writers out there who are broke, yet still write for the love of it. Some write in personal journals and books for years, then later have them published.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Lolli1986

bump for awesome topic. it really helped me to think about what i do and why more carefully. thanks again.

ChasingSweatandTears

I'm very intrinsic. Although I'm enjoying the extrinsic benefits lol

Edited to say ... When I hit my goal, it is my new goal to see just how much more my new, lighter body can DO without this extra weight.

MaraDiaz

Intrinsic. The only time I am ever extrinsic is when there is a goal I plan to enjoy at the end of a long, uninteresting slog, and in order to force myself through that slog, I have to constantly focus on how much I am going to enjoy that goal at the end of it.

mfpcopine

Most people rely on a combination of both types of motivation. I thought the writing example was particularly bad because any writer with talent writes in part to be published. Even the most brooding, dedicated and solitary writers want the extrinsic reward of publication, recognition, and money.

There are thousands of writers out there who are broke, yet still write for the love of it. Some write in personal journals and books for years, then later have them published.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

They love it, but if they consider themselves professionals, they want or need to get published. And actually, many accomplished writers do not love writing.

My point was this dichotomy is a little simplistic.

ninerbuff

Most people rely on a combination of both types of motivation. I thought the writing example was particularly bad because any writer with talent writes in part to be published. Even the most brooding, dedicated and solitary writers want the extrinsic reward of publication, recognition, and money.

There are thousands of writers out there who are broke, yet still write for the love of it. Some write in personal journals and books for years, then later have them published.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

They love it, but if they consider themselves professionals, they want or need to get published. And actually, many accomplished writers do not love writing.

My point was this dichotomy is a little simplistic.

Fair enough. I see your point.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

JennieAL

I think that I'm mostly intrinsically motivated in general, in life... but I came to MFP out of extrinsic & intrinsic motivation. And I think I'm constantly juggling those in my mind as I go along. There are days when the extrinsic tug is harder, and vice versa. But what keeps me going is most definitely intrinsic.

JennieAL

Most people rely on a combination of both types of motivation. I thought the writing example was particularly bad because any writer with talent writes in part to be published. Even the most brooding, dedicated and solitary writers want the extrinsic reward of publication, recognition, and money.

There are thousands of writers out there who are broke, yet still write for the love of it. Some write in personal journals and books for years, then later have them published.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Not all writers write to be published.

sabolfitwife

100% extrinsic. Guilty as charged. AT THE SAME TIME THOUGH, I find myself really starting to enjoy working out, which makes me a little bit intrinsic??? Lol. My best friend and I walk every night then I go home and find some fun workout to do on Comcast's On Demand fitness section.

meshashesha2012

a mixture of both. i want to be healthy but i also want to be hot and not be scary when i'm wearing nothing but a bikini and feathered headdress when i'm in barbados

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redcat17

I would say I am more intrinsic, almost to fault, because if I don't enjoy doing something I find it hard to do. For getting fit and healthy my motivation is decidedly intrinsic. If fits in to a bigger picture for me, about being healthy ( and in turn, happier) for the rest of my life. I also might add that I look forward to my work outs because I have a high-stress job and I find it alleviates most, if not all of the stress.

Saruman_w

I would say a big majority of my motivation is extrinsic. I want to look good, and be desirable. The other part is enjoying being healthier as well.

ninerbuff

Intrinsically motivated people are found to be more happy with themselves according to studies. Makes sense. Try working toward being more intrinsically motivated than extrinsically motivated.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

yoovie

fantastic post. I started Extrinsic, but I quickly became Intrinsic :-)

same happened to me. Now its almost all intrinsic.

UsedToBeHusky

Thank you for posting this. It has helped me today.

hesn92

A little of both. My main motivation is to be healthy. I also want to look good. Not for anything specific..

chrishgt4

My intrinsic clients did it for health, to be more active and to feel better and stronger. Consequently they are still achieving.

Just a thought regarding the above...doing it to feel stronger etc - could that still be classed as extrinsic - in that they may not enjoy doing the exercise itself, but enjoy the benefits it provides? To be truly intrinsic should it be that they enjoy the feeling that bench pressing gives them and would do it whether they got stronger or not?

Not an argument - a genuine question...

littlelaura

Intrinsic 100%, pretty much all my life, I would never be able to be motivated by money or material rewards, status or what others think , its all about me and at the end of the day, when everyone else is gone and you sit all alone with yourself, your own thoughts, feelings, you reflect, and if you are okay with the person you see in the mirror, that you lived life witih all you got. For me my rewards come from things such as I like to give of myself to others, I never feel I need to be acknowledged for it and would even feel awkward being acknowledged. I kind of like doing good deeds in stealth mode. I think life is entirely about the experience and how collecting tons of them not tons of things impacts who we are and shapes how we change and grow spiritually. The more good memories of family, friends, events in our lives, things I've achieved as personal triumphs over road blocks in my life, and gained inner personal strength are the gifts I gave to myself , they truly are the best gift in life. There is nothing on earth money could buy that could be a greater gift than the gift Ive given to myself of renewed health and in return for that a quiet self confidence and peace that I am where I am supose to be and happy in life, I will continue to learn, become even more than I am today and enjoy the ride of life.

CoryIda

Intrinsic

I have always - since I started in September of 2010 - just wanted to work on getting fit and healthy because I want to live a fit and healthy lifestyle.

Additionally, I love participating in challenges and races and things like that but never care if I win or even finish in the top half - I just like the challenge of pushing my own limits.

johnwhitent

The older I get the more intrinsic I become with exercise. I love feeling stronger and faster, more so than the number on the scale. I feel silly when I think about how important that used to be to me. However, I will admit that having two sisters induces a bit of extrinsic motivation to working out. We all want to be the strongest/fastest; I think its still proactive though.

It's interesting that you brought that up because I have noticed that my "older" clients goals aren't that of "physique" goals, but that of health and something that they can do daily, where my "younger" clients specifically are trying to reach goals like lower body fat %, getting rid of the muffin top, getting six pack abs, etc.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This is me! At 59 I am sooo intrinsic. I don't need a pat on the back, an "atta boy," or a "wtg," and I am not trying to look good for others. I am singularly focused on better health and fitness. It's not that I'm a great guy, I just figure I have only so many years left and I want them to be good ones. I cycle, run, and strength train but I do almost all of my exercise alone and I have never participated in a race or other event. Come to think of it, I am just fear motivated - fear of getting old! Is that even intrinsic?

chrishgt4

To actually answer the question - I would say mine is a bit of both.

There are days when I could easily not bother going, when I'm feeling low on energy and feel like I'm going to pass out as I'm working out. Then there are others where I'm craving all day to get in the gym after work.

Regardless of how I feel about working out - I always have the extrinsic motivation in that I am looking progressively better.

Compare that to football (soccer), I play that even though it actively detriments my muscle gaining. I don't really see much benefit from it, but that is totally not the point for me. I just love playing.

TinaCleg_cancel

Definitely extrinsic. I have not found the love of excercise. I am doing it to change the way I look and feel. I hope to someday workout because I really love it

m60kaf

Well I don't think that information is much use A bit like asking are you a tired person or full of energy

'You know your quite confident but I can tell u are a little bit insecure'

I just like to experiment wid 'tings but I could live wiv abs

castadiva

Aren't most people a mixture of both? I would find it very hard to say that I am one or the other exclusively in all areas of my life.

bbygrl5

Absolutely both types of motivation throughout every facet of my life, but I do feel my motivation shifting more and more toward the intrinsic when it comes to fitness.

LilRedRooster

I'm mostly intrinsic. I do a majority of the things I do because I simply enjoy doing them. Like exercise. I like looking fit and healthy, of course, but for me, I'm more fulfilled when my body performs well and allows me to do things I enjoy. I love having legs that can runs miles and miles through the woods, and I love having arms that are strong enough to handle doctoring cows. I love feeling healthy and able to handle things that come my way. I don't particularly care how my body looks as a result, I just care that it performs its given functions, and that it does them well.

I'm also that way with education. I go to school and do well in classes because I enjoy learning, and love being able to grasp concepts. I like getting good grades, of course, but that is just because good grades will allow me into the program I want. I don't need good grades to feel like school is worthwhile.

deadstarsunburn

Just took a meyers briggs test lol
I'm VERY intrinsic.
Interesting information thanks for sharing!

ninerbuff

Just took a meyers briggs test lol
I'm VERY intrinsic.
Interesting information thanks for sharing!

Post the test for others to take.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

BUMP