Comments on: Hacking and Grinding: The Balance Between Passion and Self Control http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control in search of intervals Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:26:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-bleeding By: chug http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-164682 chug Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:14:37 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-164682 <p>[...] [...]</p> [...] [...]

]]> By: Andres Moore http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-158734 Andres Moore Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:49:18 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-158734 <p>Wow...what an article! You just define myself, im just 30lbs below :) , and passionate about too much stuff in my life for just concentrate on my college.</p> <p>pd: im from Chile. I always enjoy your articles, thanks!</p> Wow…what an article! You just define myself, im just 30lbs below :) , and passionate about too much stuff in my life for just concentrate on my college.

pd: im from Chile. I always enjoy your articles, thanks!

]]> By: Steven G. Harms http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-156351 Steven G. Harms Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:24:07 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-156351 <p>The grinders surely <em>do</em> have the exotic sex life—for what is more essential to the sexy than control?</p> The grinders surely do have the exotic sex life—for what is more essential to the sexy than control?

]]> By: Gary Fisk http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-155926 Gary Fisk Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:56:24 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-155926 <p>Nice post Daniel. </p> <p>I think that your ideas of hacking and grinding correspond to the psychological concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, respectively. Intrinsic motivation refers to things that we do because we enjoy the activity in itself. Extrinsic motivation describes activities done solely to bring about a particular outcome. There is no interest or pleasure from the activity. The only thing that matters to extrinsically motivated people is the outcome. A good example of both of these is fishing. Some people enjoy fishing and fish as a hobby, which is intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, some people fish for a living. Their extrinsic motivation is to get paid at the end of the day and they could probably care less about fishing as an activity. </p> <p>It is good to balance these if you can by finding a career that you care about. There is some evidence though that getting paid for doing what you love can decrease the intrinsic motivation for doing the work (the overjustification effect). </p> <p>@Brooks: I partly agree with you that extrinsically motivated people are more prone to burn out, but I think that there is more to it than that. There are plenty of people who start in careers that they truly care about only to get frustrated by the lack of pay or poor working conditions (e.g., artists, musicians, teachers, nursing, etc.). This suggests that intrinsic motivation is probably not enough, by itself, to prevent burnout. Stress and the amount of work required to be successful are also important elements that make people more likely to burn out.</p> Nice post Daniel.

I think that your ideas of hacking and grinding correspond to the psychological concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, respectively. Intrinsic motivation refers to things that we do because we enjoy the activity in itself. Extrinsic motivation describes activities done solely to bring about a particular outcome. There is no interest or pleasure from the activity. The only thing that matters to extrinsically motivated people is the outcome. A good example of both of these is fishing. Some people enjoy fishing and fish as a hobby, which is intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, some people fish for a living. Their extrinsic motivation is to get paid at the end of the day and they could probably care less about fishing as an activity.

It is good to balance these if you can by finding a career that you care about. There is some evidence though that getting paid for doing what you love can decrease the intrinsic motivation for doing the work (the overjustification effect).

@Brooks: I partly agree with you that extrinsically motivated people are more prone to burn out, but I think that there is more to it than that. There are plenty of people who start in careers that they truly care about only to get frustrated by the lack of pay or poor working conditions (e.g., artists, musicians, teachers, nursing, etc.). This suggests that intrinsic motivation is probably not enough, by itself, to prevent burnout. Stress and the amount of work required to be successful are also important elements that make people more likely to burn out.

]]> By: Brooks Garrett http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-154939 Brooks Garrett Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:16:06 +0000 http://dmiessler.com/blog/hacking-and-grinding-the-balance-between-passion-and-self-control#comment-154939 <p>Well written article, but I disagree. Those who you refer to as having ultimate self control are still driven by a passion. The difference comes in where the passion lies. The passion may lie in the journey or in the result.</p> <p>You and I enjoy what we do, and reap great rewards doing it. We reap these rewards as a bonus, the real pleasure is we get to do what we love. It is thus our passion is in the journey.</p> <p>The others, those with "Self-Control" have a passion for the results and the journey is just something that must be done. Why these people ultimately fail is simple self awareness. There comes a day when these people realize that the people who love what they do are accomplishing the same goals, but enjoy doing it. This is my explanation of "burn out" and "mid life crisis" that you see in so many (driven/self controlled/motivated) executives in today's business world.</p> Well written article, but I disagree. Those who you refer to as having ultimate self control are still driven by a passion. The difference comes in where the passion lies. The passion may lie in the journey or in the result.

You and I enjoy what we do, and reap great rewards doing it. We reap these rewards as a bonus, the real pleasure is we get to do what we love. It is thus our passion is in the journey.

The others, those with “Self-Control” have a passion for the results and the journey is just something that must be done. Why these people ultimately fail is simple self awareness. There comes a day when these people realize that the people who love what they do are accomplishing the same goals, but enjoy doing it. This is my explanation of “burn out” and “mid life crisis” that you see in so many (driven/self controlled/motivated) executives in today’s business world.

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