The Missing Ingredient in People with Low Motivation
Found by studying obsessive gamblers.
No one knows how to motivate people better than casinos. Take a look at these numbers (both from the UK):
- Your odds of getting struck by lightning are one in a million.
- Your odds of winning the Lotto Jackpot are one in 45 million.
You’re more likely to be hit by thunder 44 times than winning the lottery! Yet, Denis Coates — CEO of Bet365 — received a salary of 584 million dollars this year. Her firm makes four billion dollars a year in revenues thanks to millions of loyal customers.
Gamblers are not stupid. They know they can’t beat the house. Yet, many keep coming back to the slot machine. Behavioural scientists want to understand why. Unlike drugs, gamblers don’t take a chemical substance that alters their brain functions. Since it’s not a chemical drug, something else causes addiction to gambling.
Wolfram Schultz thinks that knowing the reason(s) behind gambling addiction holds the key to understanding motivation and big drive. This professor of neuroscience is one of the leading experts in the science of motivation. Schultz and his colleagues think if we understand why certain people gamble obsessively, we can leverage the same principles to pursue healthier habits with greater motivation.
So what’s so special about gambling? Why do people keep coming back to roulettes and slot machines? To answer these questions, a little reminder on how motivation works.
Motivation fluctuates because of a brain molecule called dopamine. When you’re anticipating a reward, your brain is flooded with dopamine. As a result, you feel highly motivated to work hard and get that reward. But once you achieve that goal and get the reward, dopamine levels drop back to normal, and your motivation wanes. No wonder dopamine is known as the molecule of anticipation — the higher the anticipation, the more motivated you become.
Gambling is a pursuit in which the next time could change everything. Gamblers think to themselves, “What if the next time I win?” And it is this intense anticipation that motivates them to try over and over again, even if they keep failing. “Reward uncertainty is the core feature of gambling that creates addiction,” conclude the authors of one study.
The technical term for this uncertainty of reward is “Intermittent Reward Schedule” (or “Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule”). In an Intermittent Reward Schedule, you don’t succeed every time you put in the effort. This uncertainty of reward differs from the type of work many people do, in which they receive consistent compensation whenever they perform an effort.
Studies have shown that mice that pull a lever and always receive food have lower dopamine levels than mice that pull a lever and randomly receive food or not. Humans are not different. We work harder and stay motivated longer when the reward comes in randomly (for instance, after a third then a fifth trial).
Reward uncertainty might explain why those in high-risk ventures work much harder than employees who receive monthly paychecks (regular rewards). For instance, an entrepreneur might often fail to raise money for their startup after several rounds of pitching. This challenge motivates them to work even harder until they hit a big win and raise millions.
The same applies to a chef or an author hoping to win a Michelin Star or a Pulitzer. Unlike a regular cook or a journalist receiving a steady paycheck, a chef or an author work with higher degrees of randomness. They keep perfecting their dishes/drafts and work day and night because the next time can truly lead to that hefty award.
You can apply an Intermittent Reward Schedule to boost your motivation. The key is to work on projects that have some randomness and uncertainty in them. Because when you try hard and fail, your anticipation for the next trial goes up, motivating you to work harder.
If I had to summerise Intermittent Rewards Schedule in the simplest way possible, I’d say this:
Fail, fail, fail, win, win, fail, win, fail, fail, fail, fail, win, fail, win, fail, win.
Motivates you more than:
Win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win.
Anticipation leads to motivation. The uncertainty of reward causes a spike in dopamine levels in the brain and motivates you more.
Casinos apply the principles of Intermittent Rewards Schedule perfectly. You don’t win every time or win the same amount when playing — if you did, it wouldn’t be that exciting or fun. As a result, they motivate many people to try their luck over and over again.
If you’re unmotivated or lack meaning in what you do, you can leverage this principle to raise your motivation levels. You don’t need to start a company or compete in tournaments (unless you want to, of course). A bit more challenge is sometimes all you need.
If you’re working in an organisation, maybe ask management to be assigned a more ambitious project. If your venture doesn’t motivate you as much as it used to be, perhaps a new product, bolder features, a pivot, or a new style, is what you need. The key is to set goals that don’t lead to rewards every time you put in the work. Adding risk, uncertainty, and challenge — getting out of your comfort zone — helps you stay on the path of pursuit.
Animator legend, Jacques Rouxel, once said:
“Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué.”
Translation:
“Why try simple when you can do complicated.”
Put in the effort, experience a few setbacks, then grab the win. A bit of uncertainty makes life so much more exciting.
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