## Motivation --- Why do we do the things we do? --- ### External motivation Carrot and stick; someone else sets our path. - numbs our self-motivation - feels meaningless - makes it easier to procrastinate --- ### Internal motivation We have our own target and we follow it. - progress feels more rewarding - brings good mood - engages creativity and learning --- ### Goal-based motivation We want to achieve something in the future. - Pros: it works! - Cons: it causes us damage; not sustainable - long struggle, followed by a short rush of joy that quickly evaporates - requires more and more demanding goals --- ### Hedonic treadmill 🔗 > Humans quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events. The reward for finishing a major goal is not worth a long struggle to get there. --- #### Arousal addiction (not about sexual arousal) Addiction to new, stronger stimuli created by setting bigger and bigger goals. --- ### Journey-based motivation Enjoy the ride, the destination is secondary. - happiness now, not just at the end - unlocks flow - flow brings contentment and mastery - ...which in turn brings results --- ### Meaning Your actions may have positive impact on others, adding strong foundations for a lasting motivation. --- ### Group vision Cooperation of individual visions helps the growth of our own potential and boosts the entire group. > The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. --- ### TOOL: Personal Vision --- #### How to get one? 1. SWOT analysis 2. Achievements 3. Analyzing motivating activities 4. Beta-Vision 5. Final Personal Vision --- #### Step 1: ### Personal SWOT - S - Strengths - W - Weaknesses - O - Opportunities - T - Threats -V- Time to reflect on yourself! -V- #### Strengths - skills, traits and qualities you have - using them supports flow - personal vision makes use of these as much as possible -V- #### Weaknesses - qualities you lack; limitations and negative traits - using them retards flow - personal vision avoids them if possible These can be improved, but don't devote too much time to it. -V- #### Opportunities - possibilities today's world offers to us - using them supports flow - personal vision builds on them Only a few will be used. The rest needs to be rejected and banished to gain focus, clarity and mastery to avoid decision paralysis or regrets. -V- #### Threats - risks, possible negative impacts or scenarios - take them into account - recognize them and be prepared - awareness helps with facing a potential fear --- ### My SWOT -V- #### Strengths - attention to detail, carefulness, looking for perfection - enjoy exploring and learning new technologies - like to solve problems and mysteries in tech - life-long programming experience -V- #### Weaknesses - lacking in open confrontation, group arguments - introverted, social interactions are taxing - cautious in opinions, not an 'influencer' -V- #### Opportunities - contribute to open source development - use college degree on distributed systems - change jobs for - different role - better pay - more aligned tech stack - get exposure as an expert - contribute to the state-of-the-art - share knowledge through talks and blog -V- #### Threats - changed role: boring / stressful / annoying - changed job: - low pay / annoying co-workers / toxic workplace / long commute - having to use Windows --- #### Step 2: ### Personal Achievements - things you are proud of or that brought you joy - provides specific evidence of your strengths - helps to gain confidence and think positively --- ### My Achievements - finished college with a cool master's thesis - became a dev team leader - self-hosting the services I use via VPS - extracted ERP legacy tax functionality via a strategy pattern - built and coded a split keyboard - learned to type using the Workman layout - ... --- #### Step 3: ### Analyzing motivating activities Find out what drives you; strengthen your vision.