You’ve got to answer to yourself first and foremost to fulfill your internal values, motivation and satisfaction.
No matter the success you find at your place of work, whether it’s monetary or authoritative success, if it doesn’t fulfill your internal values it’ll leave you with the feeling that something is missing. If you become passionate about what you produce you’re going to do a better job. A can-do attitude and a little extra effort will soon be second nature!
In Drake Baer’s article on Business Insider, he discusses the dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
He highlights three key aspects of an individual’s capacity for satisfaction.
• Autonomy: feeling in control of behavior and goals
• Competence: gaining mastery of tasks or skills
• Relatedness: feeling a sense of belonging or attachment to others
These are traits that are cultivated from within and can remain throughout your life. Of course, chasing extrinsic money and power isn’t a bad thing, but as rewards these external goals are fleeting, constantly needing to be topped.
If the basis of your determination comes from within, you’ll never be without a reason and a route towards triumph.