In the studio or on the road, many artists find they’re at their most creative when they’re simply on the lookout for joy.

When a job has some sort of outside payoff—typically cash—it’s known as an “extrinsic reward.” When there’s no payoff except for the joy, it’s known as an “intrinsic reward.” Experts are now seeing intrinsic reward as the silver bullet of motivation and a principal key to evolved work.