{"id":12431,"date":"2020-11-02T19:07:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T03:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=12431"},"modified":"2026-04-11T12:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:21:52","slug":"motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/02\/motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do you do what you do? Why do you feel motivated to do some things, but not others? How does your environment, experiences and personality impact your motivation? Can you change your motivation and alter the direction of your life?<\/p>\n

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Motivation matters. But it\u2019s also mysterious. We all know what it feels like to be driven to act, but we don\u2019t always know why we feel that way.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s considerable research on motivation, but getting the gist of it isn\u2019t easy. Consider Wikipedia\u2019s entry on motivation<\/a>, which includes over 20 different theories! Given the diversity, it\u2019s no wonder people gravitate to memorable-but-discredited ideas such as the fanciful interpretations of Freud.<\/p>\n

In an earlier essay, I asked why taking action is hard<\/a>. Why do so many of our life problems seem to stem from an inability to motivate ourselves to do what we should? To sate that curiosity, I read through dozens of papers and books to see what science has discovered so far. This guide is my attempt to summarize the most important and useful research in the science of motivation.<\/p>\n

Side note: This guide, like the other Complete Guides, is long. More like a small book than a blog post. If you\u2019d like to listen to it as a podcast (~90 minutes) or read it as a PDF or eReader, just join our newsletter and I\u2019ll send you the links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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