3 Motivation Styles determined by Personality 

Do you like Dr. K's live delivery? We found it a bit more energetic than recording offline

Discovering this guy has been one of the biggest milestones in my life.

"You'll get bored of your anxiety" Such an uplifting and funny way to look at it

"Recognise that your mind has the capacity to see more problems than actually exist" Thanks for that. I'll give it some thought.

Personal notes: Vata: so it's harder to stay in one lane for long stretches but it's easier to get excited for a different lane and works better with frequent breaks. (High acceleration, low top speed kind) For these people, rotating between (same set) tasks is much easier and better than forcing themselves to stick to one thing. Rigid work times are not suited. Pitfalls for these peoples are generally worry and anxiety orientated due to the wandering nature of these minds they tend to see problems that might not even exist or matter, so recognise this about your mind that you are prone to seeing problems that may not be there and trust in yourself. Over time let the excitement win over the anxiety, so if you see yourself getting too anxious then switch, and if you're a vata mind the excitement from the switch will be good enough to make the mind move over. Pitta: Steady, regular, traditional kind of motivation. Good with working regularly, harder to get going again after a break. Are you intolerant to the idiocy of others? (Litmus test). Pitfall: interpersonal conflict. Kaphas: ( low acceleration, high top speed kind) Take longer to get into the groove,but once they're in they can really shine. Pitfall is that they tend to be more prone towards excessive self criticism and depression due to a lack of visible progress despite their efforts; as a result they are more prone to giving up right before the pace is about to set in, their own nature must be accepted and understood in order to allow themselves to be patient

Me when dr K introduces a motivational style: "oh that sounds like how I think" Me when dr K introduces the next motivational style: "oh that sounds like how I think"

Vata crew, unite! 😄Then disperse... then reunite again!

I feel like I'm a weird mix of vata and kapha. My mind is all over the place but I lack physical energy. Wired and tired at the same time.

I feel so validated! I’m Vata and have been trying to cram myself into a Pitta routine. Recently, I had a major task to complete in two days: divided tasks, took frequent breaks (every 1.5 hrs), etc. and was shocked at my engagement and production. But didn’t know this could be my daily routine. Thank you!!!

You are very good at making me feel like a valid person.

Each time he introduces a type, I think: "oh yeah! That's totally me!" By the time Dr K hit Kapha, I realized that I have been all three at different points in my life and that I have changing degrees of Vata, Pita and Kapha all roiling around inside of me. I think it's like Dr. K said. There really isn't a one size fits all. We probably get different combinations of these motivation types depending on our immediate environment or life circumstances, and I think the way to deal with that is to adapt our mode of being accordingly.

Just learned I was a Kapha. Always destroyed in the morning, my energy shines at 3PM to 6PM. I annoyed my bosses with questions but after a while I was one of the most productive people they could find. I feel like this motivation style helps me to be a good teacher because I learn the learning process itself and people often came to me to say I was a good explainer. I really remember the worries and questions that I had so I know mostly what questions other people might have. My motivation is slow but steady, its not hard work that pays off for me, its steady work, therefore perseverance pays more than anything else. It really fits mostly what he says. Self critical and prone to depression is really accurate to me. My head doesn't let me go

i really started to tear up watching this. i think this is the first time someone's said that it's ok to jump from motivation to motivation. i spent so long in high school and college trying to force myself to do everything and wondering why i couldn't just stick with things like other people. it felt like a weight off my shoulders when you said that there was nothing wrong with it. thank you for explaining all of this so well. i hope that these words stick with me and help me to improve myself moving forward. truly, thank you.

fast burnout, get bored fast, and a slow learner cool I'm the avatar of unmotivation

Ok I figured it out now. I am a mud tornado. That explains everything actually.

I feel like I’m a mix of Vata and Kapha lol. Not sure if that’s even possible but I feel this video has taught me a lot. As always, thank you Dr K!🙏

Something really valuable I learned in design school is this quote: “If you’re not doing anything productive for 15 minutes, switch it up!”

I am in my last year of college, and this is actually the first lecture i have ever taken notes. Well played Dr.K

Vata : easy come, easy go. Recognise that your motivation will rise and fall down on different times. Take breaks and do different things in a day Pitta : be careful of inner conflict, be more tolerant of others. Kapha : you might be slow in figuring out stuff but once you figure it out, you don't forget easily . Be careful and don't be too self critical, recognise it will take you some time so give yourself time (Kapha-vata for me)

11:14 "Only the Avatar can learn all types of motivation" LMAOOOOO

21:53 *Sips tea* "So my diagnostic question is are you intolerant of the idiocy of others" that made me laugh

What do you call it when you have short bursts of fire-like motivation, drift away and do nothing the rest of the time (wind) , and are prone to depression due to all the time you're wasting and all the milestones you're not hitting (earth)?

Good thing there are still professionals that think the way you do, especially in the field of psychology. We tend to oversimplify things that we lose the whole point sometimes. I hope, this reaches a lot more people around the world, as what you say, most tend to think their motivation type is the "fire" type which in actuality just the most overhyped type so far, and in my perception is slowly forming a problematic culture/mentality among us.

This really helped me. I’m Kapha and when you started talking about Kapha being prone to depression and self-criticism, it really hit me hard, I cried a bit. I’ve always thought of myself as lazy and completely lacking in motivation, and that because of that I would achieve nothing in life and would be forever frustrated with myself. When kids in school would study for 4 hours two days before an exam. I would study for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day a week or two weeks before an exam. And I always said I did it because “I know I’m lazy”. I know many people who love me but have unconsciously hurt me by asking me to be more Pitta and telling me I’m lazy. Anyways, thanks.

You speak a lot more human-esque while streaming, I like this

"That's just dumb." Been finding this conclusion in a lot of things in life.

Vata... knowing this exists, knowing I'm not the only one... Just... mind blowing. This is why I have to work remotely, why I have more than 30 companies on my resume, why I break up my day just like you described. Thank you for the info, and now to google more about this.

Thank you

1:03 Dr. K: "People are different." Azriel7248: "I have slow motivation?"

When he started talking about the VATA motivation I screamed, " this son of a bitch knows me" and It really is true of what he was saying during that sequence, for me.

Adhd is kinda like wind and earth. Rotation comes naturally (for me at least with games and topics i wanna learn stuff about) and then it gives ya a lot of patience and resilience over time. Like, dealing with impulsive people becomes an easy game and suddenly you're able to explain a board game to a difficult child for the fifths time, because you're kinda having treated yourself like that for years😅

I have treated myself as either a Vata or Pitta for years. Always with an unsatisfactory result on some level. I compared myself to those of my peers I saw most immediately as admirable. But, based on some honest introspection, I think the Kapha mindset is what describes me best. I have never contemplated treating my motivation with patience, and respect for the long term. It simply didn’t make sense without the context of this explanation. I do my best when I do this instinctively, and I wholeheartedly thank you for sharing a perspective that doesn’t seem to exist in our fast paced society. I will try patience, and trust in my long game more from now on, and this thought relieves me greatly. Not because I believe it is some secret to success, but because I feel more honest with who I am. Thank you.

This man out here airbending motivation

"one week your learn python, the next week your learning piano" dude your kinda of freaking me out Monakw stop spying on me 0.0

people, I'm legitimately crying while nodding my head! I've ALWAYS felt like I have to live up to the ideal motivation type that the western world advertises just like Dr. K mentioned. I'm completely a wind type and I always forced myself to be like fire. it's nice to hear I am okay like this too

You talking about Kapha style made me cry, because it made me realize my problem for 32 years.

"I'm built different" xD

I got the feeling like I'm a mix of vata and kapha. Don't realy know what to do now. Because they seem to be the total opposite of each other.

My mind is completely and utterly blown. I was struggling so. fucking. hard. trying to be like pitta, the classically motivated person - for years. But also I was so happy 7 to 10 years ago, when I was doing stuff like the vatta people do, not really knowing that, sort of by accident. I'm not gonna go into details here, because this post would be too long, but this might be one of the most important videos of my life. Thank you, doctor K.

commenting for the algorithm, Dr K is a great person overall, not just as a streamer or a doctor

Dammit. I feel called out by the Vata problem-generating pitfalls XD

OK, im a vata type just like dr k and finally got in my rhythm so here is what worked for me and hopefully it helps somebody else: i write down the things i want to get done on the weekly basis, then in the morning when im about to start working i just choose a couple things from my weekly list to work on then choose something different the next day depending on how im feeling.

I have discovered that I do not fit any of the motivation styles. I just simply don’t have motivation.

Honestly helped me a lot when you said doshas are not real, just tags you can use to get an idea of someones psychological style

That moment when you pick up and lose interest quickly like a vatta but learn slowly like a kapha.

Lol. I'm a Vata+Kapha hybrid ( I have many interests and my excitement comes and goes, and I give up easily if I don't see fast results ) and have been trying to force myself to be a Pitta all my life because, as he said, society is kind of built for Pittas to succeed and so I thought I needed to change in order to have any success.

I cannot express how useful this information is to me as I’ve always struggled with motivation since I’m both all over the place and slow starting but and pump good shit out after I’ve settled after that slow start. this really shines a light for me, thank you for having this channel and giving really good advice that people can use as tools to better themselves.

I was just talking to a friend about how to approach motivation in a healthy way lol what are the odds

Never have I seen myself in the light that a kapha is described. I've always seen myself as a failed pitta. But this makes so much sense. I gives me hope and mends my heart a bit.

I love how chat moves in accordance with the subject Doc is talking about, like when he mentions that Pittas have no patience with others and a bunch of guys agree, or when he mentions Kaphas envy the burst of speed of Vatas and chat starts spamming Sadge.

This video gave me an incredibly helpful framework for thinking about myself and my relationships with my coworkers. I am like hard core pitta but my PhD advisor is definitely vata, and that's caused some tension and distraction for me as I get frustrated with his style of mentorship. And he's verbatim told me to think of work and motivation as a series of sprints rather than a marathon, but when I tried to adopt that style it was miserable for me. I found it so hard to "just do what I'm interested in" and get a new feeling of motivation each day. I've figured out that I need that steady 9-5 workday and a project to focus on and get deep into to stay motivated, and trying to gauge what I want to do on any particular day really stresses me out. Just having this framework for our 2 styles and understanding that we have different motivation styles is so helpful for me. So thank you!

I'm bawling listening to the Vata description. I've felt so ashamed and frustrated with myself for so long and have always wondered why I can't do the things other people say will help. Thank you

glad i found these explanations. i’ve been down on myself lately because i feel like there isn’t anything i can do about my adhd and motivation combined. you’ve taught me that i can play to my “weaknesses” and take advantage of my “disadvantages”. thank you for doing what you do man, helps a ton!

Absolutely my fave video I've seen of yours so far Dr. K. The way you explained the topic and the comparison to the elements/class idea is super awesome. Cheers!

This may be the single best mental health/career advice I've ever heard. You helped me understand myself better than ever before in a matter of minutes. I'm so impressed!

Beautiful, I keep coming back to this video to remind myself we're all a different puzzle without the edge pieces. Thank you Dr. K for equipping us with the proper gear to tank life.

I had a thought about Vata/ Dynamic style motivation. The moment you described this type of motivation I knew it was my own. You mention getting excited about something and then not following through. I feel this way, I think that there is some initial follow through. The excitement drives me enough to get going on that something because I am impatient and want to try it out, whatever it may be. The follow through is actually quite substantial depending on the excitement level. Sometimes it dies off with a vengeance. Sometimes the something I was excited about never gets revisited. Thanks for the videos Dr. K. I would love to be on your show one day. If not I'll keep learning through others! Best of luck to all.

I like how you're mixing these sanskrit concepts into the psychology... And unlike many people who try to do this, mix concepts from other cultures together, your mixes actually make sense, they're not just to be cool multiculti. I like that :)

I’m a vata for sure. I have so many random goals so I have a hard time devoting lots of time to a singular goal which I feel lessens my overall motivation for the goal since my attention is always divided between goals so I end up putting down a lot of goals then I usually pick them back up again lmao. I’ve recently started doing daily goals though to make sure I’m always progressing and to also gain more self confidence in my motivation and discipline.

Hey.. Recently was recommended your channel during a time of low motivation at work, and a lot of what you've discussed has really resonated with me. I've taken a lot of notes in regards to ADHD and motivation. In another video, you said Motivation is actually the ability to hold a though in your mind for an extended period of time. In the context you explained, this made sense, as other intrusive thoughts can replace what it is that you truly want (self doubt, anxiety, etc). You recommended meditation, to help strengthen the mind to keep focus on a single thought. However, in this video, when talking about the "air" type of motivation, you say it is common or normal for minds to shift from one thing to another, and that's okay. You said air types should not force yourself to follow through. How do these two ideas work together, or work differently than I'm imagining? Love your videos. The internet needs more people like you!

So, I am the third type. So good to know this. It will be a handle for me. I have described myself as driven, but that's not per sé true in this formulation, and the insights into this style will be very helpful in both a practical and an interpersonal sense. It explains why I find people with other styles to be distracting. I am still not sure how to navigate this style, but it is an entré. Thanks, Dr. K.

I'm definitely resonate a lot with Vata & Kapha). There's so much I want to do... but I fall into depressive episodes of not being able to move forward strong enough with anything. I want to be able to create a career with all of my interests (most of which are in the realm of art & creativity) but my anxiety and motivational blocks completely fuck me up.. It doesn't help that many people in my life have no problem constantly reminding me of time passing and that I've not accomplished anything....I'm frozen with fear and discouragement.

I discovered Dr. K one week ago and there is no going back. I love to see that someone is integrating Indian Ayurveda and stuff with the modren aspects. It makes me feel connected to my roots as I see in India as a psychology major that people and researchers are running or inclined towards a western approach forgetting their heritage. Also, about the different motivation styles, is it possible to haved mixed motivation styles? For example, whenever I draw or practice karate I find my motivation to be Pitta style(also i can't do them all day long otherwise my parents will disown me😂) and when I am studying I identify myself with Vatta style. So, can we have mixed motivation styles?

The Kapha motivation couldn't have described me better, thanks Dr. K

i have never felt so seen. thank you dr. k. both my parents are fire type and their mantra was "work first, then play", and through you video I see that I am a wind type. I discovered this recently for myself, but never had the depth of vocabulary or knowledge that you gave in this video. Thank you so much, and I'm really excited to move forward with this refined way of staying motivated 💛

Omg this was sooooo awesome for me! I've never heard it broken down quite this way! I kept shaking my head and saying this is good....this is so good! Thanks Doc!

You've managed to make my wind mind sound like a super power! I totally recognize getting excited again after getting bored with something and doing something else first and I never realised that that is something to accept and work with 😊

damn man, he really hit the bullseye with me i see to be the exact definition of a Vata mind being explained this really made me emotional i kept thinking that i don't have any motivation. thanks alot Dr K

I think my problem is that I'm a fire type forcing myself to be a wind type because I'm self-conscious of being too "intense." I have focused my fire on negative things in the past, (an eating disorder and being obsessed with being "the best") so in the last few years I've been trying to force myself to be more balanced and chill like a wind type but that just isn't me, so now I think I need to get back in touch with my fire but just direct it at something healthy. There are fires that burn down cities and fires that provide warmth and food and keep people alive... I just need to focus on the latter. Thank you for this video Dr. K! it helped me realize a lot about myself.

This just made me feel so happy. First of all, definitely vata here and I have been struggling so much with following through with things and I will definitely start rotating 4 things to work on. I could not have related more when he said "once 3pm tolls around I am done, my stamina is shot". I felt so validated ahaha. I wake up excited and ready to tackle everything but I always feel like I am tired before I consider my day done. Now onto learning more about this type, I am so freaking excited :D This feels like a whole new world especially after a whole year of failed attempts at keeping myself motivated for things I want to do.

Have a good day everybody!

Every dosha test: you are Pitta! Me: zero motivation, zero focus, done after 4 hours of work, quits something after 2 months of being obsessed with it

I'd just like to say thank you, for this video and all the work you've been putting in. A strong force in 2020 for everyone.

I’ve watched this video so many times, also because I’m preparing my own video for writers and writer’s block, I will be quoting this and other videos, Dr. K. Thank you for what you do. I am the resilient type of motivation, and I do a lot of self criticism for not being fast enough at my job. Thank you for helping me understand this.

I just got chills when I realized that I fit perfectly into one type as he was describing it

A Turtle approved these 3 styles of motivation.

Thank you for video. Saved. Will watch it sometime.

this helped me so much I'm genuinely so grateful the Vata/Dynamic Motivation showed me what I can do better. I can recognized now that my anxiety and paying attention to it too much is keeping me from doing tons of things that I would like to work on. The fix like you said is to let my excitement take over and just do it.

Tru, I do get insanely bored of what I'm doing very quickly after a massive wave of motivation and rotating between tasks in a day is the only way to stop myself from turning into a zombie within 3 days and lose all motivation. No wonder having a schedule book where I write my goals for the day increases my productivity by 2077%

One trick for slow motivators is to start thinking about something early, like maybe the day before. Break up the task into multiple parts (by planning it out) over the course of a day and work on it periodically. Interestingly enough, this also looks like part of the solution for a fast motivator.

Oh my gosh, you have expanded my horizons by making these videos! I'm learning new things, & having "A-Ha!", moments! Thank you for the incredible work you do, & for being so generous in sharing this impactful content! 💯👏😁

Im kapha, I like it to be honest. I don't deal with depression about not being successful bc I am. I love putting work in to become good at something and to thrive. So because I'm patient with myself I end up being praised by people as I ended up being more successful than those around me. I just take time when it comes to learning bc I feel like I need a full understanding. When it comes to homework though I kinda suck bc I procrastinate a lot. A lot of the time when I feel liked doing homework its late at night, and then my parents get mad and take my stuff away to make me sleep.

It's weird to have figured this out over the last year, but now watching this being able to explain it

This video literally took an entire weight off my shoulders that I could never actually articulate at all. In my family, I come from a bunch of steelworkers and farmers, and overall there's a pitta approach to hard work in my family that I sometimes struggled to identify with.

This rings so true for the way I work, definitely vata type. I become incredibly enthusiastic about things and put a ton of effort in, only to become bored relatively quickly and start a new project before the other one is finished. I've been taught to view that style of working quite negatively. 'You're a Jack of all trades, master of none' - that kind of thing. But I suppose this concept explains why I was at my most successful/happiest from a work perspective when I was at college. On an average day I'd have a history class in the morning, followed by a language class after lunch, philosophy seminar in afternoon, study group after dinner etc. I knew some people who struggled to juggle extra language classes and things - but I was like, pile them on, the more the better! The thing is, as Dr. K explains, you can actually cover quite a lot of ground when you work like that - you just have to be consistent in your inconsistency.

Beautifully delivered as usual, but especially well-structured. Great work AK!!!

While I agree, i need to say that there really isnt anything like the "slow metabolism" most people think they have. The difference is minor at best. The real difference can be most of the time explained by NEAT(non excercise activity thermogenesis). Some people just move around more then others, especially unconcious movements like the way you shake your leg while sitting or the time you are standing/walking instead of the time you are sitting makes a huge difference that is far bigger then metabolism. Having a bad metabolism is at least for the majority of people a position of denial.

For the ADHD wind motivation, how can you predict what will excite and motivate you? Sometimes just the fact that something is scheduled already makes it more boring and therefore cannot excite me to start working on it. 😔 But when the same task just pops into my head unplanned, I find it exciting.

Thank you soo much for this super insightful + helpful video!

I think i'm a mix of three, but taking the quiz can be helpful if you're just as unsure as I am! The link is in the description. I'm so glad to have come across this, I'm in college, yet I never felt like I knew how to study. This really explained why I always do things last minute lmao, I thought it was self sabotage talking but it was the Pitta peaking through. Thank you for what you do Dr. K!

Motivation style 4: Adderall

I watched this video when it came out and it changed my life. I was always struggling, forcing myself to focus on one thing. I'd get these big bursts of energy and think I could accomplish the thing I wanted to do but after a period of time I'd get annoyed or distracted, even though I was making progress. That then made me feel stupid, then depressed not understanding why I couldn't coupe. Now I implement little breaks, whether they be important things or just fun things between study etc. I can bounce back and it makes such a difference vs studying then sitting angry wondering why i couldn't focus.

in relaising as im vata this has legitametly help provide an answer for what i do with myself. my issue has bee ntrying to attaack doing many things within a set routine.

This is spot on. Our society has this silly and pervasive idea that everyone is the same. With any grain of nuance, this notion couldn't be any farther from the truth. No wonder why the treatment of complex issues sucks so bad.

i remember digging through your channel for this info a few months back... and loved the knowledge i got from it.. im glad you made a new one very underrated video

Daym that new life game has quite a learning curve. Recently found a support to get rid of the Clinical Depression debuff just to learn that apparently my build is dumb af

David Goggins has entered the chat

Thank you Dr.K this was incredible information. Thank you for sharing this it has put a lot into perspective for me. This saved me a lot of heartache and headache as a Vata. I had an immeasurable epiphany after listening to your lecture. Thank you so much!

Wow, omg thank you so much for the insights!

I would pay money to watch a conversation between Dr. K and Jordan Peterson.