PDA fae

Tag: autotelic

  • Update on “Autotelic”

    I previously posted the following

    It’s the idea of carrying out an activity for the joy of the process, not the outcome. In other words, for the reason of internal motivation, rather than external, such as grades, awards, medals, a new job. Writing a story for the joy of storytelling, not with the goal of publishing.

    I struggle with living up to this, because external motivation is so embedded in daily life. I’ve been taught to work on the basis of outcome, and aiming for a good one. It’s hard to see how one can be autotelic when an external outcome is present. E.g. studying for the process of studying, when assignments lead to a grade.

    However, I am reminded of the British olympic rock climber, who didn’t place in the medals. The commentator was surprised that he said he didn’t mind. He didn’t climb for a medal, but because he loved climbing.

    So, I think on how he could have won a medal. Would that mean he wasn’t climbing based on intrinsic motivation?

    I don’t think so. It just would have been an outcome that happened. So I try to shift my thinking to: there may be an outcome of any nature, but that doesn’t have to make the outcome the reason. I can act from the joy of the process, regardless of the presence of an outcome, and I can be truer to my own self as a result.

  • Autotelic

    I’ve just been reminded of this concept by a reel on Instagram, which I’ve shared to my stories there (https://www.instagram.com/pda.fae/). I first learnt of being autotelic through discussion with a fellow PDAer on Instagram in 2021, and upon rediscovering it, I’m sad that I forgot it.

    It’s the idea of carrying out an activity for the joy of the process, not the outcome. In other words, for the reason of internal motivation, rather than external, such as grades, awards, medals, a new job. Writing a story for the joy of storytelling, not with the goal of publishing.

    This can be a good way for PDAers to pursue autonomy. Working from internal motivation removes others expectations, and ensures that we’re working on what we want to work on, rather than what we “want to want to do”. It’s a way of following our flow.