I realize many people have to take what work they can in order make ends meet. We often have external drivers, which means enjoying our work comes second to the pressures of being the provider for a family or repaying a mortgage or both. Sometimes we compensate by offsetting our lack of fulfillment at work with a trip we have planned or a new toy we intend to purchase.

Salary, bonuses, health care—especially for those that don't live in countries that have public healthcare—company cars, and other rewards help us satisfy our extrinsic drivers, whether providing for our families and us or otherwise.

However, many of us spend at least 40 hours a week at work, a significant portion of our waking lives. If we're not doing something we enjoy, are the things it enables us to do outside work enough to allow us to feel compensated? In my experience as a knowledge worker, probably not. Given the smart, well educated, technology savvy people that we are, once we have those things we will start to look for a more profound sense of satisfaction. When we start talking about what motivates us, this is when our intrinsic drivers begin to come into play.