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Navigation: Home » Blog » Mastery, autonomy, and purpose

Mastery, autonomy, and purpose

By Andrew C. • Updated: March 1, 2021 • < 1 • Leave a Comment

daniel pink
book drive the surprising truth about what motivates us

One of the best TED talks I’ve heard is by Daniel Pink, who wrote a book called “Drive.” In it, he argues that career fulfillment (and, ultimately, happiness) pretty simply comes down to having three things in your career: mastery, autonomy, and purpose. 

I’ll let him explain the details behind each directly in his own TED talk:

And if you’re interested in a super cool animated version of the talk (whiteboard strobe animation with Daniel Pink’s voiceover), check out this version (which is probably even more powerful given the imagery):

RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

 

I think this is a pretty insightful way of thinking about what drives human motivation, satisfaction, and happiness. In one form or another, I believe these three things are what all of us are searching for as we plan our careers and even switch our careers.

So as you contemplate your next potential career transition, ask yourself how much mastery, autonomy, and purpose your next career switch could give you. That will provide a pretty good indication of how happy you might be in your new role after you change careers.

More broadly, if you find ways to maximize all three axes throughout your career, — even if doing so doesn’t yield the maximum possible financial return — then your days of unfulfilling work will be behind you for good.

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Tagged With: autonomy, daniel pink, drive, mastery, purpose, TED

About HYW

I started Hack Your Wealth in 2015 because I was frustrated by the quality of “financial independence, retire early” (FIRE) content on the web. I found much of it to be generic personal debt journeys, but that didn’t help me because I already routinely saved over half my income. What I wanted instead was deep, analytical, step-by-step insights – and hardcore spreadsheet tools to match! – on how to rapidly grow wealth and manage it strategically and tax-efficiently to get to financial independence…all while raising a family. So as I became increasingly expert in wealth management, tax-planning, and estate planning, I started documenting the biggest strategies I was thinking long and hard about. That content became HYW.

What are my bona fides? I cut my teeth at McKinsey and HGGC private equity (Bain Capital spinout), picking up a CFA along the way, before going into product at LinkedIn, Redfin, Pinterest, and Google. BA from UT-Austin, JD from Harvard Law School. Licensed to practice law in NY, CA, and HI.

These days, I get a kick out of interviewing guests on the HYW podcast about wealth management, tax-planning strategies, and life hacks; getting the occasional dopamine rush after scoring a juicy travel hack award; and showing my hilarious and silly(!) daughter all the tricks she needs to know to have an epic childhood. Read more about my story.

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Topics

  • Career Advice (41)
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  • Estate Planning (12)
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