GET IT DONE: How the Science of Motivation Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

When I was a kid, my parents offered me cash for good grades — $25 for an A-, $50 for an A, if memory serves.

I was a decent student, but I had some focus problems, and apparently they thought I needed an incentive.

I didn’t turn down the money, but I also hated accepting it — it cheapened my academic achievement, turned it from something I did for myself into a form of selling out.

My parents had the best of intentions, but their attempt to motivate me backfired. Why? Because human motivation is a fickle, sometimes counter-intuitive thing.

No one knows this better than the University of Chicago's Ayelet Fishbach, who's spent the last two decades researching the ins and outs of self-motivation.

She's got a new book out called Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, which our Next Big Idea Club curators — Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink — chose as one of the best non-fiction titles of the year.

On this week's episode of the Next Big Idea podcast, Ayelet sat down with one of those curators, Daniel Pink, to talk about closing the gap between what you aspire to do and what you actually accomplish, why most people prefer mouthwash that burns, and Dan's pitch for a reality TV show about the Curie family.

If you’ve read Dan’s bestseller Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us — a book that genuinely changed my relationship to management and life — then you know this is a topic he’s passionate about. And I think you’ll find that passion comes across in this wonderful conversation.

Give it a listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or right here: