Most people come to financial markets with a vision of profit and sometimes a misunderstanding of what is meant by trading or trading in financial markets. The broad enough idea of ​​buying a stock that will appreciate 1000% throughout the year and earn a hefty dividend sounds ridiculous, but few people actually started trading with the idea.

In this article, we will introduce the two basic types of motivation that lead a person to the path of trading, and which primarily determine how long he will stay on this path, or how successful he will be at it. Internal and external motivation play a role in all these variables.

External motivation

External motivation usually means the so-called superficial things, which already include classic representatives of the world of materialism, such as cars, houses, clothes, electronics, etc. All these things are part of external motivation and in terms of motivation it serves as a “driving force” for a person to start operating in the financial markets.

The elements of external motivation also cover the first two stages of Maslow’s pyramid, Thus, the need to fulfill biological needs such as finding money for food, drink, shelter, security and protection from adversity. Even these external stimuli motivate traders to sit in front of the PC every day and try to make money guessing whether the chart will go up or down.

Having a material goal, like a cell phone, isn’t a bad goal at all. However, it should be realized that this is only about short term goals. In the long run, the desire for a better phone is not going to work out in terms of motivation, as the excitement of material stimulation fades away very quickly. The same is true for the motivational elements of Maslow’s pyramid. For example, who likes to drink or eat? In short, material incentives and elements of external motivation affect the human psyche only in the short term and cannot be considered as motivation for long-term operations in financial markets.

inner motivation

Have you ever wondered what a marathon runner, for example, would “torment” the 42 kilometers during this time? Of course, one will realize that their motivation is money, and in some runners, such as the top ten, this may be the case. But what, for example, is the motivation of someone who has been running Jizera Fifty for 30 years? Almost no money.

This brings us to inner motivation. The idea or understanding of what intrinsic motivation is can be very difficult for someone who has not experienced it. Personally, I really like the definition of inner motivation conveyed by Mr. Ivo Toman in his books he describes this kind of motivation as an inner arrow that guides a person throughout his life. Everyone has these inner arrows, but the ability to understand them varies greatly from individual to individual.

Thanks to the deep arrow, people throw themselves into the Marathon or the Jizera Fifty. Deep arrows can perform one master spell. He could travel out of the way. With external motivation, a person pursues something that he does not currently have. When with inner motivation, one realizes what one has and thus does not need to pursue anything.

Internal motivation can last a long time, and it is this motivation that makes successful people work more, earn more, or be more successful in sports. Internal motivation, or if you prefer, internal arrows, provides the energy for above-standard performance that distinguishes successful people from average ones. At the same time, it is not enough for everyone to find their inner arrow and run all the inner motivations. The key is to do what we enjoy.

Thank you for reading!

Martin Klass