What drives me at work? A 3-minute self-reflection

About 3 minutes · 12 statements · Your answers stay on this page

Two people can do the same job and want completely different things from it. One needs room to decide how the work gets done. Another lights up when they can see themselves getting better at something hard. A third barely notices the task and cares most about who they are working with and who it helps. Psychologists who study motivation describe three basic needs that people carry at work: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Which one feels loudest probably differs from person to person, and from season to season. Here you rate twelve everyday statements, which takes about three minutes, and we show which of the three seems to pull hardest for you right now, or whether they pull about evenly. Then we share what that can look like, what we see as useful in it, where it can cost you, one small practice for this week, and some questions to sit with. It is not a performance rating, and your answers never leave this page.

This is a reflection, not a diagnosis. It describes what seems to energise you at work right now, not a fixed trait and not a measure of how good you are at your job. If work has left you persistently exhausted or low, a doctor or counsellor is the right person to talk to.

About the idea

The framework behind this reflection is Self-Determination Theory, which grew out of research on intrinsic motivation (doing something for its own sake) from the 1970s onward. It proposes that people have three basic psychological needs. Autonomy is the sense that your actions are your own choice rather than pressure. Competence is the sense of being effective and growing in skill. Relatedness is the sense of connection and of mattering to others. The theory proposes that work which supports these needs tends to be more engaging and more sustainable than work driven mainly by rewards and pressure.

One point we find worth knowing: the theory treats all three as needs everyone has, not as personality types. So the results below describe which need seems loudest in your answers right now, not which kind of person you are. A 2017 review of workplace research sets out the argument that meeting the three needs promotes autonomous motivation (motivation that feels like your own), high-quality performance and wellbeing. A 2016 meta-analysis, which pools 99 studies, examined need satisfaction at work and its links with growth and wellbeing, and it cautions about the measures and methods used.

The honest limits: needs and wellbeing seem to go together, though that does not always show which causes which. The 2016 review lists culture among the open questions for future research, so it is not settled that the needs work the same way everywhere. Some jobs also offer little say or little room to grow, and what you want is not always what is on offer. We'd offer the result as a way to notice what gives you energy, never as a ruling on what you should want.

What this reflection looks at

• Freedom to choose how — Higher means having a say over how and when you do your work matters a lot to your energy.
• Getting better at things — Higher means stretching your skills and seeing yourself improve is a major source of your energy at work.
• People and purpose — Higher means working with people you like and seeing who your work helps is a major source of your energy.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
   Supports: The three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and why meeting them matters.
2. Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H. & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 19–43. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113108
   Supports: The argument that meeting the three needs at work promotes autonomous motivation, high-quality performance and wellness.
3. Van den Broeck, A., Ferris, D. L., Chang, C.-H. & Rosen, C. C. (2016). A review of self-determination theory's basic psychological needs at work. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1195–1229. doi.org/10.1177/0149206316632058
   Supports: A meta-analysis of 99 studies of need satisfaction at work, with a caution about measures and methods and a call for more work on culture.

The statements in this reflection were written for IX Coach; they are not taken from any published questionnaire. Last reviewed 2026-10-03.