Tristan Verboven breaks down the narrative elements of Star Wars based on motivational psychology. What makes the fantastical world building of the Star Wars Saga so plausible? How does the narrative structure follow the principles of motivation? What was so riveting about this world that other worlds don't have?

Motivation in the workplace is a careful balance of economics and mutual identity . Why do people work? What motivates them to work? There is a Codified Motivational Profile to tell you. Find out why you work. And why you don't work.

Motivation is the key to Education and learning. Codified Motivational Profiles can be used to design curriculum and identify obstacles. In the learning process, motivation is fluid, not driven. Education is the path of least resistance. Students are already motivated to learn, educators need to put learning in their path instead of trying to control it.

Motivation comes from flow, not determination. It cannot be created. It already exists, you just need to know where to find it. Understanding motivation is the key to harnessing it, and helping others find it too.

In order for Motivation to flow, we need the world around us to believe in us, to share our self-efficacy, and to trust us. In turn, we need to believe the world needs our skills, we need to believe the world believes what we believe, we need to trust the world is on our side. Intrinsic Investment is not about what we can do. It's more about who we are. It's not about what we can get out of a situation. It's more about what we have invested in it. 

Our motivations, behaviours and decisions are tied up in a culture. Layers of concentric rings that influence us, presenting obstacles and opportunities. For better or for worse, we are limited by the health of our culture. Culture can provide momentum. And it can create obstacles. Having the wind in our sails can generate a great deal of motivation. But tacking against prevailing wind can dissolve it very quickly. Sadly, our motivation depends a little too much on the health of our socio-cultural circumstances. 

Pleasure and pain may be in the driver’s seat of motivation, but they are not what makes the car go. Regardless of how much you want something, and how much drive and will-power you put into it, the world around you can make or break your plans. You can’t do it alone. You can’t do it on an empty stomach. And you can’t do it with a boot on your neck. You need Extrinsic Instrument.

Some psychologists believe that pleasure and pain are the basic currency of motivation. Intrinsic Instrument definitely runs on it. But it's more complex than that. It's one thing to be able to do something. It's another to know you can do it. It's still another to accurately predict the outcomes. The pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain is not a path of self-determination, but the path of least resistance through a web of factors beyond your control. 

Your Codified Motivational Profile (CMP) is a story broken down into its parts. A simple action is rooted in a wide range of actions. In this episode, we learn how to map them out. 

Having motivation does not mean motivating yourself. There are no bootstraps. There is science to it. Turns out it's a complex web of factors, most of which are out of your control. Like any engine, it needs gas, lubricant, maintenance, and a driver. There's more to it than giving it gas. You need to keep it properly tuned. In this episode, Tristan Verboven takes you through the basic scientific theories on motivation. Where you go and what you do depends entirely on what is going on under the hood. Check it out.