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I will add a few more: Make lots of money and join elite club, To help the needy, To make your people happy, To get yourself out of misery, To have some pleasures for yourself. I hope I haven't duplicated the motives.
So, which of these push you and how much?
People say money can't buy happiness, and that may be true, but money can help buy life. Without money you can't see doctors, you can't receive cancer treatment, its more difficult to get a good education without money, it's difficult to do fun things without money.
Yes, we're programmers and you don't need to goto school to learn a language, but my kids may not necessarily be programmers. Hopefully they want to become doctors, or dentists, or lawyers or engineers. And those jobs require degrees and those degrees require money, sometimes, lots of it. Can they earn it on they're own and get school loans like everyone else? Absolutely - but if I can help them accomplish their goals, all the better.
Having my name known in some obscure group only known to programmers - meh. Walking into a room and people recognizing my face and coming up to talk to me? meh. Putting snow tires on a $250,000 sports car and driving around in a NY winter? hell yes - because I can and because I earned it.
Money. I hate to be so cliche but money is the absolute #1 driving force for everything I do / learn / work towards. People say money can't buy happiness, and that may be true, but money can help buy life. Without money you can't see doctors, you can't receive cancer treatment, its more difficult to get a good education without money, it's difficult to do fun things without money. Yes, we're programmers and you don't…
Also, I think people who work extra hard to just to move from their ordinary social circle to elite circle are missing the point. The goal is not to change from being an average person in one social circle to being an average person in a higher social circle, but to stay in the same social circle and become the best in that circle - doesn't matter which circle it is.
Money. I hate to be so cliche but money is the absolute #1 driving force for everything I do / learn / work towards. People say money can't buy happiness, and that may be true, but money can help buy life. Without money you can't see doctors, you can't receive cancer treatment, its more difficult to get a good education without money, it's difficult to do fun things without money. Yes, we're programmers and you don't…
I think your priorities are closer to what they should be for a natural biological being. Also, I think people who work extra hard to just to move from their ordinary social circle to elite circle are missing the point. The goal is not to change from being an average person in one social circle to being an average person in a higher social circle, but to stay in the same social circle and become the best in that circ…
Social circle is of no significance to me - having a nice house and car in the city or suburbs (where I live, the suburbs are the place to be, not the city) wouldn't matter to me. The upper class here lives in the suburbs, but to have the same house in the city would be ok with me, so long as it's a house that I like. A nice car was specifically mentioned because I'm into cars. Some people love sports; I love cars. To own a hand made Ferrari or Lamborghini or ... is a great achievement IMO.
Some people and some I know could care less - they strive to go on great relaxing vacations. Some strive for security with money in the bank. Everyone has their own goals. These are mine.
Money. I hate to be so cliche but money is the absolute #1 driving force for everything I do / learn / work towards. People say money can't buy happiness, and that may be true, but money can help buy life. Without money you can't see doctors, you can't receive cancer treatment, its more difficult to get a good education without money, it's difficult to do fun things without money. Yes, we're programmers and you don't…
This made it much easier for me to choose what to work on, and currently I am using my time and energy (and all of my surplus money I get from my consulting business) to create and spread the word about TimeBlock - a new way of working that has made me happier, my employed Makers happier and our customers happier!
My goal is to help Makers, Managers and customers become just 1% happier if I can do that I will feel very priviliged.
This doesn't mean I don't care about money. Quite to the contrary. Money up to a certain degree is a more or less accurate gauge of the value you create. It buys you freedom but it is no end to itself. So, making money for buying luxury items? I couldn't care less. Making money for the purpose of being able to do what I care about? Absolutely.
As you can tell, this is an ineffective strategy for motivation.
The downside is I find it very hard to achieve a goal Y that has been pressured on to me by someone else. I just try to find ways to avoid that goal, or just passably do it :-)