Ever Better Today:
Season 2 Episode 102
Autonomy + Competence + Relatedness
Welcome to Ever Better Today: the daily podcast for creating your optimal business, career, or overall life in ten minutes or less. I’m Lisa Conners Vogt, Executive and Leadership Coach and founder of Ever Better Coaching and Consulting. Let’s jump in!
Notes from this episode are below.
Feeling fulfilled and passionate about our work comes from having autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
So what do those three terms mean and how can you achieve them?
Cal Newport talks about Self-Determination Theory (SDT) in his book “So Good They Can't Ignore You”. SDT is actually composed of six mini-theories and one of them is Basic Psychological Needs Theory. To learn more, go to selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory
Basic Psychological Needs Theory
Psychological well-being and optimal functioning are a result of
autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
This is the feeling that you have control over your day and that your work is imprtant and meaningful. Don’t expect this in the early days of your career. Strive for a blend of autonomy and guidance by finding mentors and role models to helpy you navigate your profession. As you gain experience, you’ll enjoy more autonomy that you’ve earned.
Autonomy
There are four levels of competence. As your skills and awareness develop, you’ll move through the phases of:
Unconscious incompetence; conscious incompetence; conscious competence; and unconscious competence.
Learn more about this model by listenting to Episode 7 of Ever Better Today.
Competence
This is the feeling of connection to other people. You have to feel a connection in order to feel very engaged and passionate about your job and mission-driven.
Relatedness
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