Though there are thousands of stories, it is thought that man became self-motivated after he developed the “[9]awareness” of motivation. While there is no exact date, early records show that as individuals, cavemen were recorded as self-motivated.
Here is a brief outline:
Caveman1 becomes skilled at carving out comfortable caves, while his neighbor, Caveman2 develops incredible hunting skills. Eventually, both men become aware of each other's talents, and engage each other's services. Caveman1 sets about carving a new home for Caveman2, while Caveman2 hunts food for Caveman1.
After a while, Caveman1 becomes lazy, staying at home each day, refusing to carryout his agreement altogether. However, Caveman2 continues with his agreement to supply daily fresh food. After one week, Caveman1 is idling around, while Caveman2 is still going strong. Two weeks later, and Caveman1 has still not picked up a tool; he is now growing fat and Caveman2 has endured enough. He knocks on Caveman1’s door asking why it is that he is not stuck to the deal. Caveman1 answers swiftly and simply - Because there was no motivation to. He said that whether he carved the cave or not, Caveman2 was still willing to bring him food, consequently, leaving little to no motivation.
Though you may be thinking that Caveman1’s de-motivation must have existed before he down tools, your thinking is right and we will come back to this story later.
Of course, this tale is simple and there is no validation of its truth, yet from reading such fun; we can begin to glean the origins of motivation. What shapes and forms this human dynamic is a series of basic likes or dislikes. These experiences are then backed up with an emotional or mental charge. If the life experience is liked, it can form self-motivation. If it is disliked, it can then go onto form de-motivation.