INCUP is an acronym that stands for interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, and passion. The term was first proposed by psychologist William Dodson, who suggested that these five things are the top motivating factors for someone with ADHD.
This is where understanding what motivates you and your ADHD brain comes in handy because you can leverage the 4 pillars of motivation: novelty, interest, competition, and pressure, to get yourself into action.
Through research with thousands of employees and leaders, we've discovered that there are five major motivations that drive people's actions at work; Achievement, Power, Affiliation, Security and Adventure.
Interest and passion turn the ADHD brain on. It gets the brain moving and drives it towards that interest. This means that the initiation hurdle, the thing that blocks you from starting, is more like a very gentle speed bump when you are interested in a task- you may not even notice it's there.
Pretty much all of the motivating factors out there can be distilled into six core types: incentive, achievement, social acceptance, fear, power, and growth.
American psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual's behavior. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.
The Seven Motivators
These 7 motivators are: Aesthetic, Economic, Individualistic, Political, Altruistic, Regulatory, Theoretical.
Individuals with ADHD tend to seek out intense experiences and find boredom very uncomfortable. They may create stimulation such as fidgeting, laughter, conflict or noise if none is available. People with ADHD may pursue pleasurable rewards as a form of self-medication.
Key aspects of the reward system are underactive in ADHD brains, making it difficult to derive reward from ordinary activities. These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine.
Adults with ADHD often crave a lot of stimulation and excitement, so they can't stand doing ho-hum, routine tasks like filling out paperwork. They can take longer to do these kinds of projects or often avoid doing them entirely.
But it turns out that each one of us is primarily triggered by one of three motivators: achievement, affiliation, or power. This is part of what was called Motivation Theory, developed by David McClelland back in 1961.
The ADHD brain has been described as an “interest-based nervous system”: It seeks high-stimulation situations, stronger incentives, and more immediate rewards, which trigger a quick and intense release of dopamine and with it a rush of motivation. Hyperfocus. Dopamine is the brain's most intense reward.
If, on the other hand, an individual with ADHD loses interest in an activity, his nervous system disengages, in search of something more interesting. Sometimes this disengagement is so abrupt as to induce sudden extreme drowsiness, even to the point of falling asleep.
ADHD is associated with abnormally low levels of the neurotransmitters transmitting between the prefrontal cortical area and the basal ganglia i.e., dopamine and noradrenaline. Dopamine is closely associated with reward centers in the brain, and also interacts with other potent neurotransmitters to regulate mood.
As you know, one trademark of ADHD is low levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine — a chemical released by nerve cells into the brain.
Exercise and movement do so much for our ADHD brains. A bout of exercise – be it dancing, walking the dog, playing a sport, or being in nature – is like taking a little bit of Ritalin and a little bit of Prozac.
People living with ADHD may have a variety of skills and abilities beyond those of their neurotypical counterparts. These may include hyperfocus, resilience, creativity, conversational skills, spontaneity, and abundant energy.
Some of the common foods that can cause ADHD reactions include milk, chocolate, soy, wheat, eggs, beans, corn, tomatoes, grapes, and oranges. If you suspect a food sensitivity may be contributing to your child's ADHD symptoms, talk to your ADHD dietitian or doctor about trying an elimination diet.
What drives success? Consistently, prominence, inclusiveness, negativity prevention, and tradition were cited as the most compelling motivators that will humans to strive toward ambitions.
McClelland's human motives model distinguishes three major motives: the need for achievement, affiliation, and power. The power motive stems from a person's desire to influence, teach or encourage others.
The predominant four functions of behavior are attention, escape, access, and sensory needs. These four functions allow us to understand and categorize someone's actions, as well as determine why behaviors occur.
But the most powerful motivator of all is fear. Fear is a primal instinct that served us as cave dwellers and still serves us today. It keeps us alive, because if we survive a bad experience, we never forget how to avoid it in the future. Our most vivid memories are born in fear.
There are four basic needs: The need for Attachment; the need for Control/Orientation; the need for Pleasure/Avoidance of Pain; and the need for Self-Enhancement.