Title: I believe I have a problem with internal motivation, in the sense that I have none, or very little at best. This doesn&#x27;t lead me to, what one might call, &quot;procrastination&quot;. Rather, it just makes me idle; content in doing nothing. I say &quot;content&quot;, but obviously I wouldn&#x27;t be asking this question if I didn&#x27;t see it as an issue!<p>However, I don&#x27;t just sit around doing nothing, a lot of the time. I attribute this to external motivators. This applies, as far as I can see, to almost every aspect of my life. To give an example: I know how to cook, but if I&#x27;m cooking for myself, I&#x27;ll probably be lazy -- I might just eat something straight out of the packet! -- but if I&#x27;m cooking for myself and others, I&#x27;ll go to the trouble of making something good.<p>I&#x27;ve recognised this in me for some time; the reason I bring it up now is because it&#x27;s related to procrastination -- which was a hot topic on HN a couple of days ago -- and because I&#x27;m interested in doing a PhD. That requires enormous amounts of internal motivation, for several years straight, when there&#x27;s little-to-no external motivation. I see that this could therefore be my downfall.<p>How does one develop and maintain internal motivation? What can one do, for example, to renew their enthusiasm if&#x2F;when it starts to dwindle? Besides &quot;passion&quot; and &quot;enthusiasm&quot;, what are other people&#x27;s internal motivators?
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