Work, The Carrot, & Fear

What motivates you to do a good job at your work?  Is it personal satisfaction or is it fear?

Most of us dream of having a career that we would love to do day in and day out.  Waking up in the morning wishing you were already there working away.  However,  most of us instead only have a job that allows us to pay the bills and hopefully retire one day.  When we are motivated by the latter, it is fear that ultimately drives us daily.

Fear of losing our job, fear of being embarrassed, fear of not getting a raise, fear of not getting a promotion, fear of being reprimanded, fear of making mistakes, fear of not meeting a deadline, fear of being demoted, fear of feeling like a failure, and on and on is the fear.

There is an analogy of putting a carrot on the end of a stick while sitting on the back of a horse or donkey, trying to get the animal to move forward to get the carrot.  After a day of chasing the carrot, the animal is given the carrot, but the next day the same routine is repeated.  Maybe this will go on for days, but eventually the animal may grow tired of the chase (realizing that the carrot keeps moving forward as the animal walks forward) and instead decides that it is better to graze in the open field where there is plenty to eat.  The animal does not have the fear that humans have, not knowing what the future consequences may be if they no longer perform whatever task the person is trying to accomplish with them.  (I remember trying this with my dog when I was young, it was not motivated at all).

Our human minds are a blessing but also a burden when we create scenarios that have not happened and may never happen.  Humans can imagine and overthink many potentially fictitious outcomes if they don't chase the carrot.  Not staying late to finish tasks or in general putting in more hours to continually meet deadlines;  fear is what motivates the worker.  The manager sees that they are motivated, and often puts more on their plate.  However, at any given time, when the worker decides that they do not wish to chase the carrot, they know there could be consequences for that decision.  And instead of going on a vacation with their family, they stay behind.  (I must admit, that I have done that before, twice).

When I first started my career, I didn't mind putting in the extra hours to try to learn, get ahead, and get noticed.  The carrot was always dangling there in front of me.  But as I got older and started a family, I started to realize that there is a need for work / life balance.

Some people however are motivated through fear and put their career before their family.  A good movie that tells the consequences of that mentality is "About Schmidt" starring Jack Nicolson.  After he retires he realizes that the company is moving on just fine without him, he barely knows his wife, and never really had much of a relationship with his daughter.  When he tries to give her marriage advice, she tells him he has no right to do that since he was not there when she was growing up.

There will always be that carrot, but you need to decide if you will let fear motivate you.  Don't live your life where you are counting down the days to retirement and reacting to fear.  Ultimately, you need to do what makes you happy.  In a future blog, I will review a book on that very topic.