If you are doing something professionally that you are good at then you should feel fulfilled. Right? Not necessarily. If I typed 10 000 words a day I’d be an excellent typist after a couple of weeks but I will still dislike typing.

I have an MSc in Financial Economics (it’s a long story as to why I did it) and I got 87% for my final econometrics paper. Pretty good. So I know I’m great with numbers and problem solving. Problem is I don’t like numbers and would rather watch 1000 hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse than work with numbers, be a banker or an economist. I have met and coached a number of people who have found financial success through pursuing their talents but remain emotionally unfulfilled. So, if doing what you are good at doesn't guarantee personal fulfillment, what does?

Motivation

Singapore is famous for the 6 C’s - cash, career, car, condo, country club and credit cards (depending on how you feel about debt). Traditionally these are seen as external motivators

External motivators are incentives that motivate us from outside of ourselves such as money, status or any kind of reward. People driven by external motivators complete a task in anticipation of the reward that should follow. Such motivation usually leads to short-lived or even forced activity such as studying for a test because you ‘have to’ pass.

Just a word of caution here; because everyone has a different value system, what is an external motivator for some might be an internal motivator for others. Don’t automatically assume that the pursuit of cold hard cash or chasing after prizes is a soulless exercise. What’s important is the motivation BEHIND the pursuit of these end goals. The process that yields these rewards might well be internally motivated and a source of lasting pleasure for some.

On the other hand, internal motivators are incentives that motivate us from inside of ourselves. To engage in an activity, not for the potential payoff, but for the pleasure of the activity itself. This does not mean that a reward is not sought but rather that the reward is secondary or incidental to the activity itself. For example; it is easier to learn and remember something new if you truly want to master the topic rather than simply to pass an exam.

If your chosen path in life is motivated by internal motivators you have found something that you can pursue for the rest of your life and that will continuously shower fulfillment and meaning on your life. You have found what will keep the fire in your belly burning bright.

Remember that values and desired rewards will change over time. If you build your future on the pursuit of rewards you are not entering into an agreement with yourself that will be valid for the rest of your life. You’ll be constantly chasing a prize and not enjoying the process. If you never get the prize, will you find lasting fulfillment? If you do get the prize you might find that the reward is short-lived and you will soon be off chasing the next bigger and better one.

Achieving anything of value and significance takes time, so why not enjoy the journey as well as the reward?

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Author's Bio: 

Tremaine is a leadership coach in the Asia Pacific region. She spent 10 years working and training in large, multinational financial services firms before embarking on a journey to understand the tao of transformational leadership.

She obtained an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London following a BCom in Information Systems. She also holds an ICMQ from the Securities Institute of London and is trained in NLP.