The Most Common Motivations

Picture yourself living as a caveman in the days before grocery stores, fast food, or Uber Eats. You live in a cave, and your only concern is finding dinner before you become someone else’s entree. Living daily in a high-stress world means your needs are simple and obvious. There isn’t much time or mental energy left over to think about much outside of food and shelter. 

While our brains are hardwired to live in this type of environment, the world we live in today is quite different. The vast majority of people don’t have to worry about immediate physical treats or wonder where their next meal is coming from. In case it wasn’t clear, I’m not talking about making the decision between ordering Mexican or Asian food for lunch. Yes, you may technically wonder where your next meal will come from, but it’s not because you’re worried about going without food.

Here’s the problem: even though we live in low-stress environments, our brains are still functioning as though we’re in a high-stress world. Their goal is to protect us from threats and keep us safe, but they end up misidentifying outside forces as more dangerous than they actually are. Keep in mind that our brains also struggle to differentiate physical risk from emotional risk and you’ll further understand why this is such a great problem. 

In today’s world, the most common motivations are no longer the pursuit of food or shelter. They are much deeper philosophical concerns. As long as these boxes are checked, we primarily pursue feelings such as comfort, security, and belonging. For what it’s worth, I could make the argument that food and shelter fit into these categories as well, but on a more basic and elementary level. 

These three motivators are present in nearly every decision you make. This is both good and bad news. There is nothing inherently wrong with comfort, security, or belonging in themselves. However, when you don’t understand the role they play in developing or maintaining motivation, it’s easy to feel like you’re stuck or unmotivated when that really isn’t the case. The problem isn’t that you lack motivation. It never is. The issue is that you don’t understand how the desire for comfort, security, and belonging is motivating you to take one action while ignoring another one.  

The preservation of comfort, security, and belonging, which was meant to help us survive in a high-stress world, often holds us back from recognizing our potential in today’s modern low-stress world. The desire to preserve comfort keeps us from pursuing growth. The desire to ensure security limits the spark of innovation. Our natural tendency to crave belonging can hold us back from fighting for important causes or standing up for what’s right.

I’m sure there’s much more that could be said on this topic. For now, let me challenge you to use this new awareness as a filter to evaluate your ongoing motivation and your decision-making processes. When you feel tension because you don’t feel like doing what you know you should, ask yourself how the desire for comfort, security, or belonging is contributing to what you’re feeling. From there, you can determine if this motivation is serving you appropriately or if it’s holding you back from the growth you hope to see or the progress you hope to make.

Want more content on motivation? Subscribe to Brady’s podcast, “Motivation for Regular People.” New episodes release each Thursday.