Meaningful Work

clipped from pos-psych.com Flourishing or Soulless Work? By Timothy So “Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.” Albert Camus Explanation of Crisis 2: Pursuing Extrinsic instead of Intrinsic Goals Many people work very hard solely for the opportunities of promotion, higher salary and status, competition with counterparts, recognition from others, or even fulfilling parents’ expectations. According to Deci and Ryan (1985), these motivations are all “extrinsic” in the sense that they are rewards external to the individual. On the contrary, Deci and Ryan also proposed some “intrinsic” motivations which are inherently interesting or enjoyable, such as the feeling of competency and self-worth. Understanding and appreciating the meaning of work definitely brings intrinsic motivations. Compared to extrinsic ones, intrinsic motivations are suggested by researchers to enhance employee well-being and job satisfaction – such that you will never find your work soulless.