Are you a bright and sunny morning person who jumps out of bed with ease? Or do you need a little external motivation in the form of an aggressive alarm? The will to get out of bed in the morning is a unique cocktail of factors that varies from person to person – and one of those factors is extrinsic motivation.
A recent survey published by Best Mattress Brand took a deep dive into what motivates people to be their best selves, from specific goals like accumulating wealth to more “big picture” aspirations like being a good person.
Q2 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Before we dive into the dollars and cents, it’s important to understand one of this study’s core elements: intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. If you’re driven by “a desire to achieve something that feels rewarding and inspiring,” that’s intrinsic motivation, whereas “external factors that may be attached to a positive or negative outcome” is defined as extrinsic motivation.
In general, people who were more driven by external factors earned higher incomes than their intrinsically driven counterparts: they brought in an average annual salary of $46,940 compared to $43,628. However, even though the former group brought in more money every year, they were 37 percent more likely to have less than $1,000 of savings to their name.
Different motivators were also tied to different financial outcomes. For example, people who were driven by the desire to leave a legacy earned an average of $6,629 more than the survey’s average income. In a similar vein, respondents who saw motivation in challenging themselves earned just over $5,000 above average.
Intrinsic drive was also associated with better financial hygiene on the whole. Respondents who identified with this type of motivation were more likely to pay their bills on time, track their spending, set a budget, and save for retirement, among other savvy habits.
Everyone has their own unique set of motivators, both intrinsic and extrinsic, and the way they are linked to certain financial variables can be both enlightening and occasionally surprising! So, what makes you feel revved up to get out of bed every day?
