Firefighters Can Teach Us a Lot About Motivation

Watching firefighters battle the Los Angeles blazes, I wondered, “What motivates someone to run toward a fire?” What drives people to dedicate themselves to that kind of commitment to their community and the welfare of others? We know that motivation is the force to do something. It can come from deep within us, which is called intrinsic motivation, and it can come from external stimuli like financial pressure, expectations, or threatened consequences. It can be rooted in our need for hedonic happiness (the transitory feelings of pleasure we get when we do something that brings us joy) or eudaimonic happiness (the deeply felt sense of meaning and purpose we feel, for instance, after having done something good for others). Watching those firefighters, one has to be awed by their bravery and their willingness to endure the discomfort of the heat and danger. Their motivation has to be more than a paycheck or job security. It looks like they are driven to help with little attention to the personal benefits they gain from doing their jobs.

As a community, we can encourage someone to do good, but external motivation can only go so far. At some point, intrinsic motivation must be greater than our need for praise. There is even evidence that praise actually doesn’t motivate someone who is already intrinsically motivated. It’s not that praise is bad, but too much praise can "crowd out" the feeling that one is doing what they do because it is important to their own personal fulfillment. External praise can unintentionally tell the intrinsically motivated they are only as good as their best deeds. While that may work for the person who is extrinsically motivated (those whose egos love the attention when rushing towards a fire), I don’t think there are many firefighters who exist on praise alone. Their motivation is more of a "slow burn" (to use an awkward metaphor). A little positive attention and a kind "thank you" is nice, but it is not the primary reason they do what they do.

All of this to say that we can learn from firefighters something about motivation. It’s a lesson that we need to understand now more than ever. As our world is changing, more of us are going to have to be willing to step up, lean in, and be counted among those who want to help. We are going to have to do all this even when others tell us to stop wasting our time or that our efforts are fruitless because the problems are so big. When we hear these disparaging remarks, it might be worthwhile to recall the heroics of firefighters and other first responders. They maintain their motivation despite the likelihood that they will not save every home or every life.

That’s perseverance. Perseverance is slightly different from motivation. It is the force that keeps us doing something despite the barriers we experience that prevent us from succeeding. Sometimes perseverance is also referred to as grit, and there is a strong correlation between a person’s desire to get tasks completed, whatever the challenges, and their conscientiousness. Whether we are talking about motivation, perseverance, or grit, these concepts all have a long history of being part of the story of human resilience.

Motivation comes up in every aspect of our personal and professional lives. We talk about our motivation to get out of bed in the morning, to answer a text, find a career, exercise, and do chores. There are endless task-specific theories to explain motivation. There are theories related to productivity, including a social cognitive theory of motivation. There’s a goal-setting theory, achievement motivation theory, learned industriousness theory, academic motivation theory, and work motivation theories such as expectancy theory and equity theory, to name just a few. Whatever theory one leans towards, it still comes down to explaining what makes someone pursue a goal even when there are serious obstacles. What is clear, though, is that when one is motivated to do their work well, to contribute to their communities, or to maintain their own well-being, one is much better positioned to withstand stress much longer. Motivation translates into feelings of self-efficacy, a heightened sense of commitment and engagement, and psychological fulfillment. With those advantages in mind, maybe we could all benefit from helping our neighbors during a crisis, or a fire.