Quiet Frontier

When Everything is a Reward, Nothing is Rewarding

Video (MM:SS): In an age where every action demands validation, joy fades into performance. This video is about how the overjustification effect points to a quiet crisis of meaning, and how rediscovering flow can restore genuine fulfillment. Watch the video above, and if it resonates, consider subscribing for more Quiet Frontier reflections.

Transcript

00:00:06 Have you ever noticed how almost

00:00:08 everything

00:00:09 ng we do these days comes with

00:00:10 some kind of an expectation

00:00:12 not necessarily an expectation from others

00:00:15 it’s an expectation from ourself it’s almost built

00:00:17 into our culture any more that everything

00:00:20 we do has to have some result

00:00:24 some tangible measurable result that others can

00:00:28 approve of

00:00:29 and give us kudos for work

00:00:32 work hobbies rest there’s a quiet kind

00:00:37 of pressure that it all has to

00:00:40 mean something produce something or earn something

00:00:44 we’ve been told do what you love

00:00:47 and the money will follow that sounds

00:00:49 that sounds really encouraging and maybe once

00:00:53 it was i dunno but somewhere along

00:00:56 the line it just changed what love

00:01:00 meant now joy has started to feel

00:01:04 like something

00:01:05 thing that has to justify itself

00:01:07 there there’s a term in psychology it’s

00:01:09 called the over justification effect it describes

00:01:14 what happens when something we once did

00:01:17 for pure enjoyment becomes tied to the

00:01:21 expectation of external reward

00:01:26 when we start chasing the reward the

00:01:29 joy starts to fade and the strange

00:01:32 thing is we don’t we don’t even

00:01:35 notice it happening

00:01:39 but maybe that’s part of what’s wearing

00:01:41 people down today when every action has

00:01:44 to prove it’s worth to someone somehow

00:01:48 we lose the quiet satisfaction that used

00:01:53 to come from simply doing now it’s

00:01:56 not that we’ve become lazy

00:01:58 the or that we become unmotivated meaning

00:02:02 itself has been outsourced to other people

00:02:07 not not every moment needs to be

00:02:09 shared liked or leveraged for extra income

00:02:14 or for some tangible reward

00:02:17 some things just deserve to exist without

00:02:21 having any audience

00:02:22 the walk you take at dusk the

00:02:26 that the sketch that never leaves your

00:02:28 notebook the unfinished drafts of

00:02:31 writing that you’ve done the project you’ve

00:02:35 started and never quite finished but they

00:02:37 look pretty good as they move forward

00:02:41 the song you play that no one’s

00:02:43 ever

00:02:43 going to hear but you

00:02:46 those moments they don’t have to earn

00:02:49 their place they already have one

00:02:52 that’s what reminds us that life is

00:02:55 not an endless audition it’s an experience

00:03:01 so maybe the goal isn’t to make

00:03:05 everything rewarding

00:03:06 maybe it’s just to remember what it

00:03:08 feels like to be rewarded just by

00:03:12 being by doing the things that matter

00:03:14 to us by engaging in the activities

00:03:19 and the

00:03:19 possibilities of life without feeling as if

00:03:23 we need to prove our worth and

00:03:26 the value of our choices to other

00:03:30 people

00:03:32 by doing something for no reason other

00:03:35 than that it matters to you that’s

00:03:40 the true journey that we’re all on

00:03:45 because when everything is a reward nothing

00:03:49 is rewarding

00:03:51 this is quiet frontier

00:03:53 if you enjoy reflection such as this

00:03:56 and other reflections on culture and society

00:03:59 and mind and meaning and purpose please

00:04:02 take a moment or hit that like

00:04:04 button hit the subscribe

00:04:05 those moments they don’t have to earn

00:04:06 button

00:04:07 their place they already have one

00:04:08 join me join me in this journey

00:04:11 on the quiet frontier thanks so much

00:04:14 for listening take good care