What Drives Me?

The Driving Forces of Human Nature

By Dr.-Ing. Walter Tritt · A reflection on motivation

What motivates people? Money? Recognition? Curiosity? Fear? The truth is: It is all of them at once. Every person is driven by dozens of forces, and these shift depending on situation, age, and environment.

The following list is the result of years of observation. Mark for yourself what applies to you. You will be surprised.

The Complete List

My upbringing

My ambition

My faith

Because everyone does it

My greed for money

My thirst for adventure

My instincts

Love

Give and take

Balance

Polarities

My opportunism

My optimism

My pessimism

My fear

My need for prestige

My love of comfort

My desire for security

My desire to be liked

My obsession with titles

My play instinct

My stubbornness

Group dynamics

Curiosity

My envy

The goals set for me

My own goals

A vision

My team spirit

My sense of community

My friends

My parents

Surpassing my parents

My children

My boss

My colleagues

My employees

My customers

My competitors

My neighbors

Status symbols

Educational degrees

Honors and certificates

My national pride

My wealth

My poverty

My background

My professional position

Making a difference

Will to shape things

Freedom

Reward

Justice

Recognition

Gratitude

Expectations of others

Logic

Moods

Reason

Conformity

My boldness

My drive to explore

Humor

Guilt

Peace

Conflict

Boredom

Urge to conquer

Perfectionism

Criticism

My life motto

My personal growth

The moment

My uniqueness

Why So Many Factors?

The list is not exhaustive. It could be expanded by "unimaginably many perspectives and possibilities." This shows: Motivation is not one-dimensional.

The insight: No single factor is enough to motivate people sustainably. Money alone doesn't work (see "greed for money"). Duty alone doesn't work (see "love of comfort"). Fear alone doesn't work (see "quiet quitting").

But what works for almost all people, regardless of age, culture, or profession?

The Play Instinct - The Universal Factor

One of the most important factors in the list is the play instinct. It is innate. Children play automatically, without needing to be forced. Adults haven't lost it - it is simply buried under duty and routine.

The hunt for points is awakened. Work becomes fun again for everyone. You aim for successes and can see them quantified.

That is exactly what GoodPoints does. Points activate the play instinct. They make performance visible, comparable, and rewarding. Without money having to be involved.

Recognition - The Social Factor

Another factor that works for almost all people is recognition. Recognition of one's personal work performance among colleagues. The need to be liked, to matter, to be seen.

Points are measurable recognition. They are not subjective like praise from the boss, which depends on his daily mood. They are objective, transparent, and comparable.

The Consequence for Organizations

If you lead an organization - whether a company, a club, a school, or a family - you cannot address each individual motivation factor for each person individually. That is impossible.

But you can create a system that activates multiple factors at once:

▲ Play Instinct

Collecting points, rankings, competitions

✓ Recognition

Transparent performance, visible to all

★ Own Goals

Self-determination, freedom in choosing tasks

♥ Community

Teams, comparison, team spirit

⚙ Justice

Those who perform more get more points. Objective, not arbitrary.

We should be careful in general. When we hear something new, we are all mostly quick to consider why it won't work. No - we must consider why it works and what we need to do to make it work. Otherwise we will never move forward.

Put these insights into practice:

Discover GoodPoints →

Original by Dr.-Ing. Walter Tritt. Further publications at www.scwt.de.