Intrinsic Motivation: Learn to Love Your Work and Succeed as Never Before
By Stefan Falk
St. Martin's Press, 262 pp., $28.99
This book is packed with tips, tools, and advice on how to be happy working any job. With knowledge of neuroscience and behavioral psychology, Falk teaches readers how to rewire their brains to focus on exciting outcomes. It is how people think about work that makes them love it or not.
Falk, who has successfully consulted for years, convinces readers to think and plan work with a positive inner voice. No bad thinking about work or co-workers, poor excuses for missed deadlines, and taking the easy way out are allowed. Don't fall into the rut of routine. Don't go to work winging it. Don't view work as boring. Falk advises readers to not allow their inner voice to get caught up in the negative. Nothing is impossible to achieve if they spend time figuring out how to do it for desirable results.
The author encourages readers to buckle down and take pressure and pain from their job and begin to immediately plan to achieve goals to make work more pleasurable. There are always better ways to do tasks, so readers should set pen to paper and plan for them. Manage tasks so there is excitement every day in every project. Intentionally journal about the day's work activities and tomorrow's assignments—all with a positive, productive mindset.
Other advice Falk offers is for readers to track their time on a calendar, write down what they want and need to achieve, and set time increments. They should come up with new ways to complete tasks in a shorter amount of time. In addition, Falk explains that readers should expect to experience pleasurable outcomes through creativity, and focus on the personal and professional development of their direct reports to increase their brain health. When work is fun, an inner sense of accomplishment will follow.
Falk provides plenty of questions for readers to ask themselves, tables to complete, and real-life examples they can follow to build the skills needed to reshape their inner drive. Readers can learn better ways to solve problems, manage tasks, and coach others while better managing themselves. By intentionally and repeatably working at it, they will master their mind and unlock their intrinsic motivation to love work.
