How to Become More Motivated: Understand What Really Drives You

How to Become More Motivated: Understand What Really Drives You

Most of us have experienced periods when motivation seems almost effortless. We look forward to getting started, difficult tasks feel interesting, and even demanding days leave us with a sense of accomplishment. At other times, the very same activities can feel exhausting. We postpone things we know we should do, lose interest in projects that once excited us, or find ourselves working harder just to maintain the level of performance we previously achieved without much difficulty.

What actually happens when motivation disappears? And perhaps more importantly, what can we do to regain it?

When people want to become more motivated, they usually start looking for solutions. We set new goals, promise ourselves to become more disciplined, establish better routines, or seek inspiration from people who seem capable of achieving everything they set out to do. These approaches can be helpful, but they do not necessarily address the reason our motivation has declined. If your work no longer feels meaningful, improving your daily schedule may accomplish very little. And if you are already overwhelmed, setting more ambitious goals may be the last thing you need.

I believe we often approach motivation from the wrong direction. We become so focused on what we should do to increase motivation that we forget to examine what actually motivates us in the first place. There is an important difference between the two. What gives one person energy and enthusiasm may be exactly what makes another person lose interest.

What is motivation, and why does it differ between people?

Motivation influences why we act, which goals we pursue, and how much effort we are willing to invest over time. However, motivation is more complicated than simply wanting to do something. We can be highly motivated to complete tasks that are neither enjoyable nor particularly interesting because we believe the outcome matters. A manager preparing for a difficult conversation with an employee may not look forward to the conversation itself. Nevertheless, the manager can be strongly motivated to address the issue because doing so is necessary and consistent with the responsibilities of leadership.

In psychology, we commonly distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity because the activity itself is interesting or satisfying. Extrinsic motivation refers to doing something to achieve an outcome beyond the activity, such as financial rewards, recognition, status, or other benefits. This distinction is useful, but it does not explain every reason behind human behaviour. We may choose to perform a demanding task because we personally believe it is important, even when the task itself is not enjoyable. What matters is not only whether our motivation comes from within or outside, but also whether our actions reflect our own values and priorities or primarily the expectations of others.

This perspective is central to Self Determination Theory, developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. The theory identifies three fundamental psychological needs that influence motivation and wellbeing: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy concerns our experience of having influence over our own actions and choices. Competence involves feeling capable, developing our abilities, and experiencing mastery. Relatedness refers to our need for meaningful connections with other people and a sense of belonging. Research consistently shows that environments supporting these needs are associated with more autonomous forms of motivation, stronger engagement, and greater wellbeing.

A comprehensive meta analysis published in February 2026, drawing on 192 studies, provides further support for relationships between psychological need satisfaction, motivation, and workplace outcomes. The findings also demonstrate that these relationships vary across occupational contexts, employee groups, and cultural environments. There is no single formula that produces the same results for everyone.

Although we share these basic psychological needs, we do not necessarily find the same activities rewarding. Some people enjoy working independently, while others gain energy from close collaboration. Some need constant challenges, while others prefer opportunities to develop deep expertise within a particular field. What we find meaningful may also change considerably as we move through different stages of life. Understanding motivation therefore requires us to examine both the individual and the circumstances in which that person operates.

When greater responsibility leads to lower motivation

Consider Charlotte, who has worked as a specialist in an organisation for several years. She is respected for her professional competence, frequently takes initiative, and consistently delivers good results. When difficult problems arise, colleagues often turn to her for advice. Her manager appreciates her contribution, and when a management position becomes available, Charlotte appears to be an obvious candidate. She knows the organisation, understands its challenges, and has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to take responsibility. She is offered the position, which includes a higher salary, greater influence, and new career opportunities. Charlotte accepts, and everyone has high expectations.

During the first few months, she works hard to understand her new responsibilities. She wants to succeed and invests considerable effort in learning what is expected of her. Gradually, however, something begins to change. Her working days are increasingly filled with meetings, administrative responsibilities, budgets, and employee management. She has less time to explore complex professional issues, develop solutions, and engage in the activities she previously found most interesting. Although her responsibilities have increased, her enjoyment of work has declined. Tasks are postponed, her enthusiasm weakens, and her manager notices that she no longer demonstrates the same level of engagement.

What happened to Charlotte? Has she lost her ambition? Was she not ready for leadership after all? Does she need closer supervision, better training, or stronger discipline? These questions may be relevant, but I would begin somewhere else. Perhaps the organisation has moved Charlotte away from the activities that motivated her and into a position where she has fewer opportunities to use the abilities and interests that previously gave her energy.

In her former role, Charlotte enjoyed solving demanding professional problems, learning new things, and seeing the direct results of her work. In her new position, she is expected to achieve results primarily through other people. That can be rewarding and meaningful, but it is not necessarily what Charlotte wants to spend most of her working life doing.

This illustrates a problem I believe deserves greater attention in organisations. We often associate career development with increased responsibility, higher positions, and better compensation. Yet being an excellent specialist does not automatically mean that someone wants to become a manager. Nor does strong performance in one role guarantee the same motivation in another.

The opposite could also be true. Perhaps Charlotte had wanted to become a manager for years and felt increasingly restricted by her specialist position. In that situation, the promotion might have renewed her motivation, even though it meant spending less time on technical work. The difference lies in understanding what genuinely drives her rather than assuming that everyone wants the same things.

Six motivational drivers that can help you understand yourself

People are motivated by different experiences, activities, and opportunities. Some feel energised by solving difficult problems, others by working together, creating something new, or receiving recognition. An assignment that one person considers exciting can be frustrating or exhausting for someone else.

I have chosen to describe six motivational drivers that may help explain these differences. They provide a practical starting point for reflection, not a scientifically validated personality assessment or a classification system. People rarely fit into a single category, and most of us will recognise ourselves in several descriptions. The importance of each driver can also change depending on our circumstances and priorities.

1. Vision and opportunities

Some people are particularly motivated by imagining what the future could look like. They enjoy developing ideas, exploring possibilities, and challenging established assumptions. Where others see limitations and practical obstacles, they may see opportunities that have not yet been explored. They do not necessarily need a detailed implementation plan before becoming enthusiastic about an idea. Often, the possibility of creating something new is enough to generate considerable motivation.

If you recognise yourself in this description, you may have experienced spending hours developing an idea or discussing a new project without feeling particularly tired. The difficulties may appear later, when the concept needs to become reality. What was previously exciting and full of possibilities turns into a collection of details, administrative responsibilities, and repetitive tasks. Interest gradually disappears, while new ideas already seem more attractive than the project you are supposed to complete. The risk is that you continuously initiate new activities without finishing what you started.

If vision and opportunities are important motivational drivers for you, it may be useful to establish a clearer connection between your long term ambitions and your daily responsibilities. A compelling vision has limited value if it never leads to action. At the same time, you should try to organise your work so that creativity and development remain part of the process, even after the initial excitement has faded. Working with people who enjoy structure, planning, and implementation may also help you translate your ideas into meaningful results.

2. Goals and achievement

Other people gain motivation from setting demanding goals and working towards measurable results. They enjoy challenges, recognise progress, and experience satisfaction when they master something that previously seemed difficult. For some, competition with others provides additional energy. For others, the most important comparison is with their own previous performance. In both cases, achievement and the experience of improvement can be powerful motivational drivers.

This orientation can be valuable in situations requiring persistence, concentration, and the ability to work systematically towards difficult objectives. However, a strong focus on achievement can also create challenges. If satisfaction depends too heavily on visible results, it may become difficult to appreciate activities that offer little immediate progress. Some people also begin comparing themselves with others in situations where cooperation would be more appropriate than competition. Others discover that achieving a goal brings surprisingly little satisfaction because the pursuit itself was more motivating than the outcome.

If achievement is an important driver for you, consider which goals genuinely matter and why you want to reach them. There is a difference between pursuing an objective because it reflects your own ambitions and doing so because you want to meet someone else's expectations. It may also help to focus more on learning and development throughout the process, rather than evaluating every effort solely by its final result. Not every meaningful improvement can be measured, and not every activity needs to become a competition.

3. Collaboration and belonging

For some people, relationships and collaboration provide an important source of motivation. They enjoy contributing to a group, supporting colleagues, and seeing a team succeed through a collective effort. The satisfaction may come less from individual recognition and more from knowing that their contribution helped others achieve something meaningful. A positive working environment and a sense of belonging can therefore influence their engagement as much as the actual tasks they perform.

This motivational driver can be particularly valuable in teams that depend on coordination, knowledge sharing, and trust. People who enjoy collaboration often notice when others need support and are willing to contribute beyond their immediate responsibilities. However, the desire to maintain positive relationships can also create difficulties. If you are particularly concerned about preserving harmony, you may hesitate to challenge colleagues, raise uncomfortable issues, or refuse requests for assistance. You may take on responsibilities that should belong to someone else, gradually increasing your workload because you do not want to disappoint the people around you.

If collaboration is important to your motivation, seek opportunities to work with people and contribute to a meaningful community. At the same time, remember that successful collaboration requires more than agreement and goodwill. Good teams also need clear expectations, constructive disagreement, and people who are willing to establish boundaries. Taking care of your own capacity is not incompatible with being a committed team member. In many situations, it makes sustained contribution possible.

4. Curiosity and learning

Some people become most engaged when they have opportunities to explore, investigate, and understand. They enjoy learning new skills, analysing complex problems, and discovering connections that were previously unclear. They may spend considerable time studying a subject simply because the process of learning is interesting. External rewards are not always necessary when the activity itself provides satisfaction.

In organisations, this motivation can contribute to innovation, critical thinking, and the development of professional expertise. People who are naturally curious often question established approaches and explore alternatives that others may overlook. However, curiosity can also become an obstacle when the desire to understand everything prevents a person from making decisions. There may always be another report to read, another perspective to consider, or another question that deserves attention. Some people also lose interest once they understand how a problem can be solved, even though the actual implementation remains unfinished.

If learning is one of your strongest motivational drivers, it is useful to create opportunities for professional development within your everyday responsibilities. This might involve working on unfamiliar problems, collaborating with people who possess different expertise, or developing skills relevant to your future ambitions. At the same time, you need to recognise when you have sufficient information to act. Complete certainty is rarely available, and in many situations we learn more by testing a solution and evaluating the outcome than by continuing to analyse the possibilities.

5. Quality and improvement

For some, motivation comes from improving what already exists. They enjoy identifying weaknesses, creating better systems, reducing errors, and developing more effective ways of working. They may find satisfaction in improving a process, refining a product, organising information, or making an existing solution more reliable. Their motivation does not necessarily come from creating something entirely new. Often, it is the opportunity to make something better that provides the strongest sense of accomplishment.

This driver can be especially valuable in organisations where quality, safety, reliability, and continuous development are essential. People who enjoy improvement work may identify problems others fail to notice and help establish solutions that create lasting value. The difficulty arises when the desire for improvement develops into an expectation of perfection. Almost everything can be improved further, but additional improvement does not always justify the time and resources required. If you constantly focus on details with limited practical significance, your work may become increasingly inefficient and frustrating.

If quality and improvement motivate you, consider defining what constitutes an acceptable result before you begin. Which quality requirements are genuinely necessary, and which improvements would simply be interesting to pursue? It may also help to involve colleagues who have different perspectives on priorities and completion. Delivering a good result at the right time can be more valuable than delivering a perfect result too late.

6. Recognition and influence

Some people are particularly motivated when their contribution is recognised and they have opportunities to influence decisions. They want their ideas to be considered, their expertise to be respected, and their efforts to make a visible difference. They may enjoy presenting solutions, representing their organisation, leading projects, or accepting responsibilities that involve high expectations.

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting recognition. Most people appreciate knowing that their efforts matter, and meaningful appreciation can support both motivation and a sense of belonging. However, problems may arise when motivation becomes excessively dependent on how others evaluate us. What happens when your contribution receives less attention than expected, someone else is praised for a result, or you must complete an important assignment that nobody outside the organisation will ever notice? If external recognition becomes the primary reason for acting, motivation may decline even though the work itself remains valuable.

If you recognise this driver in yourself, it may be helpful to distinguish between wanting to contribute and wanting to be acknowledged. Would you still feel satisfied with the result if nobody else knew what you had accomplished? Your answer may reveal something about the balance between your personal values and your dependence on external approval. These motivations are not necessarily contradictory, but understanding their relative importance can help you develop a more sustainable relationship with achievement and recognition.

You are not a single motivational type

When reading descriptions like these, it is tempting to place ourselves and others into categories. Perhaps one driver seems to describe you particularly well, or you immediately recognise a colleague in another. Such observations can be useful, but they become limiting if we begin treating the descriptions as fixed personality traits.

Human motivation is considerably more complicated. You may be highly motivated by learning while also enjoying demanding goals and measurable achievements. You may value collaboration but still need extended periods of uninterrupted individual work. At one stage of life, you may actively seek responsibility and difficult challenges. At another, you may prefer greater predictability and more control over your time. These changes do not necessarily mean that your personality has fundamentally changed. Your priorities, circumstances, and available capacity may simply be different.

Charlotte, for example, may have several important motivational drivers. She may enjoy professional learning, complex problem solving, and achieving demanding results. In her new management position, she might gain more influence and recognition but have fewer opportunities to engage in the technical work she previously enjoyed. It would therefore be premature to conclude that she is unsuited for leadership. Perhaps the organisation needs to reconsider how her responsibilities are distributed. Perhaps she needs better support as she transitions into the new role. Or perhaps she will eventually discover that managing and developing people offers a different but equally meaningful form of motivation.

We cannot know without examining her situation more carefully.

The purpose of understanding motivational drivers is not to identify one category that supposedly explains who you are. It is to develop a better understanding of the activities and circumstances that influence your engagement, and to use that knowledge when making decisions.

How can you become more motivated in practice?

When we want to change something, we often begin by choosing actions. We make plans, establish objectives, and promise ourselves that this time we will follow through. But without understanding what causes the problem, we risk spending considerable effort on solutions that achieve very little.

I recommend starting by examining situations in which you have genuinely experienced high motivation. These situations do not necessarily have to come from your professional life. Perhaps you have felt particularly engaged through sport, education, voluntary work, or personal projects. Think about what you were doing, who you were working with, and what made the experience meaningful. Was it the opportunity to master something difficult, influence an outcome, work with others, or make progress towards an important goal?

It is equally useful to examine situations where motivation has been low. What do the tasks you repeatedly postpone have in common? Why do certain working days leave you feeling more exhausted than others? Perhaps you discover that the work itself is not the problem, but rather the way it is organised. You may enjoy solving complex problems but struggle when your working day is constantly interrupted. You may perform well when expectations are clear but become frustrated when priorities change without explanation. Or perhaps you spend most of your time performing tasks you have already mastered, with few opportunities to develop further.

Once you identify patterns, you can begin making more deliberate changes.

Distinguish between a lack of motivation and a lack of capacity

We frequently interpret difficulty completing tasks as a motivational problem. But if you have been sleeping poorly, experiencing prolonged stress, or struggling to manage more responsibilities than you have capacity for, the issue may have very little to do with motivation.

This distinction matters. If you are exhausted after a demanding working day, setting even more ambitious goals may not help. You may need recovery, more realistic priorities, or a reduction in your workload. It is also possible that you do not need to become better at handling your circumstances. Sometimes the circumstances themselves need to change.

Persistent loss of interest, energy, or enjoyment across different areas of life should not automatically be treated as a lack of discipline either. If these experiences continue and affect your daily functioning, seeking professional health advice may be appropriate.

Adjust your work to better reflect what motivates you

In organisational psychology, the term job crafting describes how employees can actively influence certain aspects of their work. These adjustments may involve the tasks they perform, the relationships they develop, or how they understand the purpose and significance of their responsibilities.

A research review published in 2026 explains how job crafting can help people create a better fit between their work, interests, skills, and needs. At the same time, the review highlights potential disadvantages when changes increase workloads, create conflicts, or place additional demands on others.

The practical implications are worth considering. If learning motivates you, perhaps you can take responsibility for a task that challenges your current expertise. If collaboration provides energy, you might look for opportunities to work more closely with colleagues. If progress and achievement are important to you, dividing a major project into clear milestones may help make your development more visible.

This does not mean that we can simply avoid everything we find boring. Every job includes responsibilities that must be completed, whether we enjoy them or not. Nevertheless, we often have some influence over how tasks are performed, how responsibilities are organised, and how we understand the value of the results.

Do not wait until you feel motivated before taking action

Another common mistake is waiting for motivation to appear before starting. The difficulty is that motivation does not always arrive on its own.

Sometimes engagement develops after we begin working. A demanding assignment may feel overwhelming when we think about everything that must be accomplished, but considerably more manageable once we have taken the first step.

If you repeatedly postpone a task, consider making the beginning as concrete and simple as possible. Rather than deciding that you must write an entire report, commit to opening the document, creating an outline, and writing the first paragraph. Once you have started, the task may no longer feel as difficult as you imagined.

It can also help to establish exactly when and where an action will take place. Research on implementation intentions, often expressed as a plan linking a particular situation to a specific action, suggests that such planning can help people translate intentions into behaviour.

However, discipline and planning are not universal solutions. If a task feels meaningless, requires resources you do not have, or takes place under unreasonable conditions, a more detailed schedule may accomplish very little. But when the objective matters and the necessary conditions are present, reducing the distance between intention and action can make a meaningful difference.

What should you do when motivation disappears at work?

If you have lost motivation in your current position, I believe it is sensible to examine the situation before making drastic decisions.

Begin by identifying what has changed. Have your responsibilities developed in a direction you did not expect? Has your relationship with your manager changed? Do you experience less influence over your work, fewer opportunities to develop, or less satisfaction from the results you achieve?

It is also possible that you have developed while your role has remained largely unchanged. Activities that once required considerable concentration and effort may have become routine. You may now possess more competence than the position allows you to use.

In such circumstances, a conversation with your manager can be a useful starting point. Rather than simply explaining that you feel unmotivated, describe which activities engage you, what you find difficult, and which changes might allow you to make a stronger contribution.

A good manager should be interested in understanding these issues. Not because every employee should be allowed to do precisely what they want, but because organisations benefit from understanding how individual competence, interests, and responsibilities fit together.

Of course, not every motivational problem can be resolved within an existing role. Sometimes our needs and ambitions change to such an extent that another position or working environment becomes a better choice. Recognising this does not necessarily represent failure. It may be the result of developing a better understanding of yourself.

Motivation in a changing world of work

In 2026, artificial intelligence, automation, and digital working methods are changing the content of many jobs. These developments create opportunities, but they may also change the relationship between what we are good at, what we enjoy doing, and what an organisation needs from us.

An employee who previously spent much of the working day analysing information and solving problems may discover that technology can now complete parts of those tasks. This could create opportunities to focus on more demanding and meaningful work. However, it could also reduce the employee's sense of mastery if those activities were previously an important source of motivation.

Others may experience the opposite. By reducing repetitive tasks, technology may give them more time for creativity, professional development, and collaboration.

The effect of technology on motivation therefore depends on more than productivity. It also depends on how responsibilities are redesigned and which opportunities people have to use and develop their competence.

For managers, this means that organisational change should not be evaluated solely through efficiency, cost reduction, and technological capability. We should also examine how changes affect the people who perform the work, particularly their experience of autonomy, competence, and purpose.

For employees, it means taking an active interest in how their role is developing and considering which skills and responsibilities they want to pursue in the future.

A practical exercise: Examine your motivation over one week

You do not need a comprehensive personality assessment to begin understanding your motivation more clearly. A simple observation exercise can provide a useful starting point.

At the end of each working day for one week, spend a few minutes recording which activities gave you energy and which left you feeling drained. Describe what you were doing, who was involved, and what made the situation interesting or difficult. Try to be specific. Writing that you enjoyed a meeting tells you less than recognising that you enjoyed working with colleagues to solve a difficult problem where your expertise made a meaningful contribution.

After one week, review your observations and look for patterns. Are there activities that consistently give you energy? Do you feel more engaged when working independently, learning something new, collaborating with others, or seeing measurable results? What characterises the situations in which your motivation declines?

Then choose one change you can realistically test. Perhaps you can protect more time for concentrated work, take on a new responsibility, collaborate more closely with a colleague, or divide a demanding assignment into smaller steps.

Observe what happens after making the change. If your motivation improves, you have learned something useful about yourself. If nothing changes, consider other possible explanations and try another approach.

This is not a scientific assessment, but a practical method for developing greater awareness of your own experiences. The objective is not to arrive at a permanent definition of who you are. It is to make better decisions based on what you discover.

You do not have to feel motivated all the time

I believe we sometimes overestimate how motivated we need to feel in order to function well. We expect enthusiasm to be present almost every day, and when it disappears, we begin searching for something that must be wrong.

But motivation varies. So do our energy levels, interests, and capacity. There will be days when our work is interesting, days when it is demanding, and days when we would rather be doing something entirely different.

That does not necessarily mean we are in the wrong place.

At the same time, we should pay attention when motivation remains low over an extended period. It may indicate that something deserves closer examination. Perhaps our ambitions have changed. Perhaps we no longer have opportunities to use our competence, or perhaps the demands placed upon us are no longer consistent with the resources available.

Understanding what motivates us makes it easier to distinguish between responsibilities we simply need to fulfil and circumstances that genuinely require change.

For me, this is about more than achieving better results at work. It is about understanding the choices we make, why we make them, and how we can use our time and capacity on activities that have real value.

You may not need more motivation. Perhaps you need a better understanding of the motivation you already have.

Research and further reading

This article draws on research in organisational psychology, motivation, Self Determination Theory, and job crafting. The six motivational drivers are practical descriptions intended to encourage reflection. They should not be interpreted as six scientifically validated personality types.

Hagger, M. S., & McAnally Star, K. (2026). Self Determination Theory and Workplace Outcomes: A Meta Analysis. Stress and Health.

Demerouti, E. (2026). Job Crafting Revisited: Current Insights, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior.

About the author

Svein Erik Haugan is the founder and CEO of TEAM NORSO AS. He works with recruitment, selection, leadership development, and organisational resilience, helping organisations develop capable leaders, effective teams, and sustainable performance.

Part of TEAM NORSO's Resilient Leadership article series.

English editorial adaptation of the Norwegian original.