"An autotelic person needs few material possessions and little entertainment, comfort, power, or fame because so much of what he or she does is already rewarding. Because such persons experience flow in work, in family life, when interacting with people, when eating, even when alone with nothing to do, they are less dependent on the external rewards that keep others motivated to go on with a life composed of routines. They are more autonomous and independent because they cannot be as easily manipulated with threats or rewards from the outside. At the same time, they are more involved with everything around them because they are fully immersed in the current of life."
-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
From the Greek word autotelos { auto + telos, which translates into self + goal}
Autotelic- [def] Having a purpose in and not apart from itself.
An Autotelic person is one who is internally driven, exhibiting a sense of purpose and curiosity towards how he or she engages with the world. The autotelic person is motivated by the process and activity, not extrinsic outcomes such as money, power, or fame.
For example, an autotelic person makes music because the act of creating and playing music is in itself rewarding enough - one not need fame or fortune to drive creation and performance.
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