We all have project and reasons/motivations why we are on it. For some people it’s just money, but is it sustainable on the long term ? For others it’s charity project, to see people going better.
On what project are you right now and what is fueling you ?
People ask me, 'What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?' and my answer must at once be, 'It is of no use.'There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behaviour of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron... If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.
My long game is the afterlife. Every philosophy and religion says that if you do good in this life, the next life will be better. If there is no afterlife, I will have lived a good life at least.
It's also really practical; doing good and helping people costs little and gives you the best deals and connections. It highlights the parasites in your life. It brings you closer to other generous people and pushes away the selfish ones.
Wealth is also a really odd thing - most people with wealth choose to invest it rather than enjoy it. Those who enjoy their wealth, whether it's buying a better car or a gold toilet seat, they mostly enjoy the purchase, but not the state of having the thing they bought.
Spending wealth to help others gives you more of a buyer's high, and you don't have to deal with say, the payments of the more expensive car or the guilt of having a gold toilet seat.
Wealth isn't just cash, but also energy and time. Spending my time and energy on vices feels bad. Whereas spending it to help others - teaching, mentoring, assisting, learning, blogging, these are all good life experiences, whether or not there's a return on investment.
Most weeks I leave work, something exists that did not before. Bonus points if I’m proud of the design and execution.
Eventually I would love to work on open source software like OS’s or languages/compilers. The idea of making even a tiny contribution to something that helps build and run the world and will be used for decades or longer is amazing.
Automation reduces the work humans have to do, which is generally good for everyone.
The best way would be to study the neuroscience of human motivation. There's a specific brain circuit involved. But from another perspective, we do what we do to fulfill various needs, mostly security and belonging. That can result in things as complex as status games.
Things are a lot more complex than that, if you consider the evolutionary history of the brain stem, limbic system and the cortex, each newer system is able to override the older one, resulting in completely different behaviour.
The corporate software culture with all of its incompetence and false expectations grates on the soul like sewage flooding your bedroom. As a result I maintain a lower paying employment in the US Army Reserves, because sometimes a year long vacation to a foreign nation doing real work under real leadership recharges the soul.
I'm not as passionate about games, but it's still pretty interesting to work on, and I can get paid...which, I need. :-)
Money is a terrible motivator, because when you reach certain monetary events, it doesn't matter how much it is, how you feel internally will decide how you feel about the money.
That's why you should always find something that makes you feel really alive, and the money should follow naturally. If it doesn't follow naturally, then find ways to make it follow naturally. Charge money for whatever it is that makes you feel alive.
By easy, I mean my most challenging days are those in which I have to solve a hard code/architecture/etc problem and solving hard problems inside a simple defined space is fun.
But in your head hear that as "Moooonneeeeeeyy" from the Pink Floyd track.
Sure I'd love to make money doing the type of stuff I do there, but I'm initially driven by curiosity.
Have helped 10,000,000+ hotel guests already.
I don't know anymore.