What's Actually Motivating You

What this episode is about

If the last two episodes cracked something open, this one asks what you are going to do with it. Hallie digs into a chapter from 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think about intrinsic motivation: being driven from the inside instead of chasing approval.

She talks about the gap between who she thought she would become and what she is building now, why meaning is something you give your life rather than something you stumble on, and shares an early look at the journaling and community app she was building.

Chapters

1. 0:00What I'm reading
2. 0:16Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation
3. 2:42Whose approval are you really seeking?
4. 3:43What actually motivates me
5. 4:12The plan I had when I was younger
6. 5:21When things didn't go the way I wanted
7. 6:53Finding new ways to help people
8. 7:29The app I'm building
9. 8:54Looking inward for motivation
10. 9:51Meaning is something you assign
11. 10:37Wrap up

Takeaways

• Motivation that comes from inside lasts longer
• Detours can lead you somewhere better
• You assign meaning; you don't just find it

A question to sit with

• If no one ever saw it, would you still do what you're doing?