Why self-painted portraits are better than realistic ones
The key to true satisfaction is using your own hands. (wait, no...)
I believe that the satisfaction you get from a sense of achievement or accomplishment lasts longer than the satisfaction you get from a sense of acquirement.
What am I talking about?
A sense of achievement is knowing that the positive outcome that you are experiencing is the result of your hard work and efforts, while the sense of acquirement is knowing that the positive outcome was by and large given to you.
The sense of acquirement is easier to come across and comfortable, it’s the path of least resistance - which is what we naturally follow. (Do nothing and feel good anyway, that’s the dream!)
Problems with acquirement > achievement
A lot of people who are accustomed to the sense of acquirement may not understand the satisfaction that accompanies a genuine sense of achievement, probably because they haven't experienced the challenges and hard work required to earn the positive outcomes surrounding their life, and hence aren't incentivized to put in the work. Even people who aren’t used to acquirement, but haven’t felt achievement in a long time face a bunch of issues, like:
Struggling to start working on anything new, i.e. they are prone to procrastination, and
Complain about the work that needs to be done in order to achieve something
The sense of acquirement isn’t completely horrible though. I think a sense of achievement that is too strong or intense can result in perfectionism, or an inability to delegate work, which affects your progress towards more important goals, so in places like this, acquirement can take over.
Even then, I believe that if you allow yourself to be pleasured by acquirement more than achievement your life will be impacted in a negative way. An appreciation for the sense of achievement is in itself a form of Intrinsic Motivation, while the achievement itself is a strong form of Extrinsic Motivation, both of which contribute to an individual's Productivity and Self-regulation. Preferring the sense of acquirement (which is not an uncommon, nor difficult trait to form) can affect these qualities in a negative way. Consider people who get cranky, hostile or irrational when they don’t get what they want, they are people accustomed to acquirement.
Why achievement is better
There’s a concept in psychology called a hedonic adjustment, which states that a human being’s happiness eventually returns to the base level. So when you get a promotion, you’ll probably be happy for a few days, but eventually, you’ll return to the same level of happiness you were at before the promotion (maybe you'll have better socks). As per this concept, both the sense of achievement and the sense of acquirement will eventually diminish after being triggered, but in my own experience, the former lasts much longer than the latter, and most of the time feels better as well. For example:
Getting something you’ve wanted for a really long time with money that you’ve saved up and earned feels much more satisfying than having it gifted to you, and you’ll feel good about it every time you use it;
Putting up a painting that you painted yourself feels more satisfying than putting one up that you bought, even if the latter is a better painting, and you’ll feel that satisfaction every time you tell someone you made it yourself;
Getting a good grade on a research project that you wrote yourself feels more satisfying than getting one on something written by ChatGPT.
So the satisfaction from a sense of achievement feels better, lasts longer, and improves your productivity, motivation and confidence.
How to amplify the sense of achievement
You can amplify your sense of achievement by reflecting on and documenting the journey, you can do that by journaling or any other method that you choose - some people like calling up and telling their friends about it. Here are some questions to consider while making the documentation:
Another way to feel a sense of achievement is to show your work and market yourself, but this is more suited for people with more achievements already, if you’re someone that
A sense of achievement provides motivation which you can use to make even more progress. You can capitalize on small wins to generate satisfaction which can be used to win bigger.
Example: If you're trying to publish a newsletter, then it's better to start small, write 500 words and publish it today, then iterate on the process until you reach your final goal of getting 1000 readers.
Celebrate and romanticize your small wins - you did something that you would not have done if you didn't face certain discomforts - and the fact that you did that is worth celebrating. Use this satisfaction to do another task that is 1% more difficult than the one you just did and keep doing that until you reach your ultimate goal.
I hope this piece gave you some perspective about this topic, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and decided to write it down to understand my own thoughts better.
Let me know what you think about it?
Until next time, let out a sigh!
Notes I took while editing
Concepts, thoughts, and ideas that I couldn’t include in this piece.
A sense of achievement is knowing that the positive outcome that you are experiencing is the result of your hard work and efforts, while the sense of acquirement is knowing that the positive outcome was by and large given to you.
An incorrect perception of these senses can also lead to Imposter Syndrome
The sense of acquirement isn’t completely horrible though. I think a sense of achievement which is too strong or intense can result in perfectionism, or an inability to delegate work, which in turn affects your progress towards more important goals, so in places like this, acquirement can take over.
This is also why a lot of professionals will be reluctant to incorporate AI tools into their business practices in the future.
A sense of achievement is knowing that the positive outcome that you are experiencing is the result of your hard work and efforts, while the sense of acquirement is knowing that the positive outcome was by and large given to you.
Can talk about Internal and external locus of control