Human Motivation - Internal or External

Can human beings be motivated? Does motivation come only from within?


I believe that human beings have the potential to be motivated to accomplish great things. Motivation can cause an individual to excel at sports, start a business, or go to school. The ability for an individual or group of individuals to strive for achievements that are not easily achieved is essential to the long-term success and growth of personal and business attributes.

My journey through classes at UofP is a direct example of human motivation. In May of 2008 due to poor economic factors in my industry I was released from a position I had held for 9 years. I had opportunity to go directly into other industries or look for potential opportunities to develop a business of my own. Having seen the changes in economy and how that could and was affecting the workplace I decided to pursue work in a different field as I started developing my own business. The one thing I was not prepared for was how much my lack of a degree would affect not only getting a job but the willingness of others to support me in my individual business pursuits. After several months of trying to work around this issue it became clear that the necessary course of action was for me to go back to school and finish a degree I started 19 years ago. I was able to transfer many of my previous credits and also get credit for much of my work experience to the affect that I will finish my degree in July of 2010.

The factors of my motivation came from both internal and external origins. My internal motivation was my desire to finish something that I had started so many years ago and also putting myself in a position to effectively provide for my family in a way that was sufficient for our needs. I had actually had motivation to not get my degree as I felt a frustration that the only thing keeping me from getting a job was a piece of paper that says I know what I need to know. I had been working in these positions for the past 15 years and that experience now counted for nothing because I didn't have a degree to back it up. The frustration caused me to delay going back to school for longer than I should have.

This is where the external factors came into play. I wanted to set a good example for my family on finishing what you start and the value of always striving to learn no matter how much you think you know. I also felt a sense of something to prove to all those who would not hire me because of the lack of degree.