Perhaps part of it is that I’m not that motivated by either money or status or power.
Has anyone been in a similar situation and how did you deal with it to find motivation again?
These are both kind of vague questions, but that's because you have to answer them for yourself. If the answers are the same, then you have a goal to work for that will probably motivate you quite well. If the answers are different, then you can decide based on whatever feels best for you.
You might also consider posting in some of the FIRE-related forums, particularly on Reddit. There are some good resources there, not the least of which is the community of people who can tell you how they approached questions like this in their lives.
An example would be https://reddit.com/r/FinancialIndependence (as always Reddit is hit or miss, take it with a grain of salt please)
> The New York Times best-selling book was published in 2016 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and utilizes a series of exercises throughout its eleven chapters in order to provide others with a sense of structure in their lives. These creative and thought provoking exercises allow the reader to reflect on their life and determine what they should do with their future. They can then generate a road map and plan how to accomplish their goals.
The book is largely geared towards working people but I think it’s actually more relevant if you have the freedom to do anything you want. Figure out what you want to be doing and motivation will follow.
For example, you say you have been lucky at a few startups. The common position here, even for early employees, is that they will see no financial benefit from the company unless they're the founders. How can people be as 'lucky' as you were?
There are way more examples of people being burned and seeing no return than there are examples of people who have been 'lucky', and having gone through it multiple times, you may know things others don't.
My point is, you probably have knowledge that could be helpful to others. You could chime in the several Ask HN threads, or write blog posts, etc.
It would help others avoid some mistakes and amortize the mistakes you've made and what you learned from them by trial and error. For example, sometimes I'll put a reply with a bunch of links to other replies on a topic[0].
Personally, I'm a Basketball coach for 8-12 yo kids twice a week. I wish I could devote more resources towards it, since it truly is the most rewarding experience I have on a day-to-day basis, but a man's gotta pay the bills.
Mostly because of insecurities we keep telling ourselves to work hard else you will be left behind. Truth is, even you become successful (in traditional sense), you will not take anything with you after death. Once you take away idea of staying motivated, you will start doing whatever you like. You can find happiness in simple things like waking up in morning, driking a glass of water or cup of coffee.
See how Feyman tackeled burn out. (Burn out doesn't mean working hard and not getting results. It is a successive feeling of not adding any value to your life)
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/richard-feynman-fighting-burnout...
This video might help you. Please watch till end.
https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/08/09/charles-bukowski-re...
You're a free man. Use what you have wisely.
Have a family.
The physicality of such jobs will make you appreciate and regain a sense of "real" work using your body, without all the information economy knowledge work stuff crammed in. People aren't just heads with bodies attached. Recommended books along this line of thought:
- Shop Class as Soulcraft
- Anything by Kerouac (he worked various odd jobs)
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
[edit] or buy a sail boat that could be a lot of fun
So I’d look to work somewhere they are engineering driven and here is opportunity to work on really technically interesting work.
By having your own money salary is a non issue. If the interesting job is 20k Euros in Berlin or even equity only then you could do it.
Another thing I’d consider is to do a PhD.
Think about why you did that, was it ONLY to become wealthy, or was there something else? Didn't you also do it because you HAD to, because it was THERE and you wanted to see it become real?
Drift about a bit, enjoy life and don't worry about stuff.. Follow what seems interesting, if that's nothing, then don't follow anything for a while and wait until something comes around that needs doing.
I've often been asked why I didn't patent FinalKey or made it into a company.. If I don't regret that because maybe I could have become wealthy. My answer is always the same: I was done with it and I had no interest in continuing it, something more interesting had come along.
He recommended a book on life transitions[1]. Whether you find wealth, retire, or do something else, such a major life transition often requires you to really invest in reflecting on what has changed, what hasn’t, what the deeper implications are, etc. The book above helps lay out some of those questions.
[1] https://www.amazon.ca/Transitions-Making-Sense-Lifes-Changes...
If you’re out of boost (motivation), just wait for it to recharge. But, certainly stay disciplined (maintain baseline speed), don’t stagnate, don’t miss your turns. When the boost shows up, it’ll be effective.
If you fuck up, and fall behind, the only thing the boost will be good for is bringing you up to speed since you languished wondering where it was this whole time.
So it sounds as though if you gave most of your $ to people who could really improve their lives hugely with a little $, everyone would be better off. Or at least be happier, which is a major form of being better off. Having done something towards helping others and making the world a better place would feel good too, I imagine.
So perhaps motivation comes from either by giving away the money or diving into some part of previously unexperienced part of life , e.g. science, religion, etc
At the extreme, a question to ponder, is that if you are not motivated by money then why not give it away? Or if not all of it, how much would you need to give away in order to redevelop your motivation? Or is that a false motivation and you need to consider something else?
There is no shame in taking a vacation and sometimes your money can be used to start something new.
executive produce a movie. who is your favorite star/rising talent? hire them, you'll become friends.
race sailboats
get involved in settling on the moon. mining and research outposts.
why did you want money in the first place? seems like this was your original motivation...
i want to try to reach this level.