Is it OK to Want to Make Money?

I agree - if all you care about is money, you won't become successful. You'll probably become rich, though.

For many successful, people becoming wealthy is a (usually intentional) side effect of building a good business.

But a good business is one that makes money (apart from the instagrams and other lottery tickets of this world). So focusing on making money is necessary to them too. If you do a great job for your customers but you don't charge them, and so you run out of money and go bankrupt - well, you haven't built a great business at all.

Conversely, people who primarily focus on making as much money as possible are susceptible to making mistakes such as scrimping on necessary expenses, or sacrificing relationships with valuable business partners.

I think you're confusing short-sighted focus with "focus". Warren Buffet has primarily focused on making as much money as possible (his chosen career is literally to make money from investment) and he's not skimped on relationships or other necessities. On the contrary, I think if you're smart and you're focused on making money in both the short and long term, you probably will make money.

On the other hand, if you assume it will happen some day later, you probably won't make money.

Does anyone have an idea how to get this "hunger for money"?

I get no pleasure from earning money and almost no pleasure from things I can buy. I find it hard to motivate myself to get rich despite the fact that I consciously know that it could make my life bit easier.

In a 'job', I don't necessarily have the freedom I want to play around all day. If a new language comes out and I want to play with it, but can't because I'm coding a login form for 'the employer', that sucks.

If I were financially independent, I could do what I wanted, more or less. I also hate doing dishes, and laundry. But I also really hate it when there aren't any clean dishes or clean laundry. Money buys me clean dishes and clean laundry.

Beyond that, I'll freely admit that I never had a huge desire for more money than I needed to live the life I wanted until I entered the wonderful realm of parenthood. Now I'm dumping tons of money into her education, into savings. She's going to need (hopefully) college, a new car, the ability to fail without too much pressure that the world is going to end. I'd also really like to leave an inheritance. I don't need my daughter to grow up like Paris Hilton, but I don't want her to grow up in poverty either.

While it's true that money doesn't buy happiness, lack of money is a pretty direct road into depression for many. Having money that you don't have anything to do with is just responsible, in the same way you have dental, medical and life insurance. The same way you buckle your seat belt.

Money is important, when you don't have 'enough' you typically have to work on fulfilling other people's dreams and you're not truly free.

But this is just one man's opinion, and that's all it is. If you get pleasure from other things, then kudos to you! Not everybody can be mega rich, and if you're content doing what you're doing without millions I think you're doing swell as it is.