Psychology Awareness

This inaugural issue introduces the first in a series of collaborative efforts to be featured on Psychawareness.com. To ease navigation between posts, please refer to the categorized headings listed above each post’s title. In my view, one of the most vital aspects of raising awareness about any issue is ensuring representation. My own perspective alone should not define these informational mediums that aim at sharing knowledge with all people worldwide. Without further delay, I am pleased now to present this short story by Justin Sau.

The first story I ever wrote was about a little pig who fell into a new planet and couldn’t find the pizza that it was craving. My following works were similarly weird and wacky, and I would spend hours crafting stories, exploring the limits of my imagination, expressing my emotions. In writing I made for myself a personal sanctuary, somewhere I could experiment without being forced into a box. 

I’m sure you’ve experienced something like this as well. An activity that brings you pleasure, fulfillment, and personal growth. You do that activity not because of some promised return, but for the sake of the activity itself. This is what is known as intrinsic motivation; motivation that comes from within, satisfying your basic needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness.

Yet as I grew up my relationship with writing changed. It lost its joy. I was the little pig, dropped into a new world of competitions and college resumes, unable to find the pizza that had once been so easily accessible. My focus changed to striving for success and external validation. 

I’m sure you’ve experienced this as well. As we move through life, friends, teachers, and society itself can gradually shift our focus to extrinsic motivation: when your goal is outcome-oriented and the process is simply a means to an end. 

As I continued to submit my work to competitions, I fell victim to the overjustification effect. The introduction of external rewards had undermined my intrinsic motivation to write. I began to attribute my sense of purpose solely to meeting the expectations of judges and conforming to the guidelines and criteria set forth by competitions. 

I found myself second-guessing my creative choices and censoring my ideas, afraid that they might not align with what judges were looking for. The joy and freedom I once associated with writing were gradually overshadowed by self-doubt and anxiety. The sanctuary had become a prison. 

By relying solely on extrinsic motivation, I had sacrificed the authenticity and spontaneity that had made my writing enjoyable in the first place. While rewards and prizes may provide temporary satisfaction, they are often fleeting and subjective. They shouldn’t define the worth of anything you do. 

To counteract the overjustification effect, it’s important to cultivate personal fulfillment. Don’t let the pursuit of external validation outweigh the joy and authenticity that lays at the heart of what you love. Write what moves you, write what you want to say, write what you think needs to be said. Break free from the shackles of extrinsic motivation. Soar into the sublime beauty of personal expression and uninhibited exploration.

~ Justin Sau