When was the last time you watched 3 Idiots? Am sure all of us must have watched at least a couple of times on the television apart from watching it on the big screen. Who were the characters that you liked and could relate with? I thought two roles stood out in the movie. Because these roles pretty much mirror what we want to be and what we are now. Aamir Khan played the character of Rancho – bold, experimental, unconventional student with incredible energy and hunger to learn and help others, while Omi Vaidya played the character of Chatur Ramalingam – bookish, hardworking, selfish and manipulative student who wants to be rich and famous.
Can we classify the types of these two characters? According to Dan Pink whose book ‘Drive: The surprising truth behind what motivates us’, we can classify Aamir Khan’s character as Type I or those who are Intrinsically Motivated while Omi Vaidya’s character as Type X or those who are Extrinsically Motivated.
Dan Pink conducted a lengthy study on which set of people were successful. Watch the TED talk of Dan Pink on the subject of motivation and extrinsic and intrinsic motivated individuals.
Apparently, he found out that individuals who focused on intrinsic goals and enjoyed what they were doing were more successful than those who focused on merely becoming rich and famous.
Remember Aamir Khan and Omi Vaidya in the 3 Idiots movie .You know who was more healthy, wealthy and happy.
So, What motivates you? Are you a Type X or Type I? And what do you want to be? Would love to hear from you.
Hey Partha…
As rightly said in the video, It is very difficult to choose any one type i.e “I” or “X” and particularly in my case. When you do good to others, somewhere you are doing good to yourself and hence you are automatically motivated. And that’s what happens in my profession.
However, there is always a time when I feel down and that is the time I search for motivation from outside.
May be there are some people who work like Amir khan and are successful but still they look out for motivation. So hard to choose any one “TYPE”…. For me both are important..
Ayush Bhargava
Thank you Parthasarathy for sharing this simple truth with an analogy and making us introspect. So beautifully put. Always your sishya.