What Is Your Motivation In Life?

What is your motivation in life? Are you motivated by money, are you motivated by success, or are you motivated by the pursuit of happiness?

I was so excited that I had finally done it. Yesterday, I published a post on Medium, and it had earned a small amount of money due to the response that it had received. How much money? Probably equivalent to a penny or a nickel. But I didn’t care. I was just happy that I finally was starting to make money from my blog.

After work, I was so excited that I jumped in my car, grabbed my phone, and I called my mom to tell her the great news. Filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and optimism, I told her about my newest accomplishment. It didn’t matter to me how much money I made, I was just happy that it was something.

“Mom, I did it. I finally made money from my blog.”

The moment I said this, I just stopped. My voice went from being filled with excitement to devastation. Every ounce of excitement and energy that I just had completely disappeared. I began feeling nauseous.

Why was I so excited about making money? Why was currency feeling like a greater sense of accomplishment than helping to make an impact and to change the lives of others. To be completely honest, I felt absolutely disgusted with myself.

Everything that I have worked for, everything that I stand for, and everything that I believe in had now felt meaningless. All of the times that I have said that legacy is more important than currency, or that money can’t buy happiness, felt like one of the biggest lies of my life. I felt like nothing but a fraud. My meaning and purpose seemed to vanish in the matter of seconds.

I didn’t start writing about my experiences to make money. Writing, for me, was meant to be a therapeutic way for me to release my emotions in life while trying to help other people overcome struggles and obstacles of their own. All of that hard work and dedication that I had put into my writing had now seemed worthless.

I get it, there is nothing wrong with making money from something that you are passionate about. But I felt as if I was more excited about making a few pennies, than I was about helping others. That is something that I never wanted to happen with my writing. I never wanted my focus to shift over to just making a quick buck.

Money should never be the main motivating factor behind you wanting to achieve your dreams in life. Is it okay to make money from something that you love doing? Absolutely. But the minute that money starts to become your only source of motivation, you are going to lose all sense of passion and enjoyment. Follow your dreams because they bring you happiness and fulfillment. Not because it can lead to a few extra dollars.

In the end, I am actually glad that I felt this feeling of disgust with myself. As someone who loves the thought and idea of having money, this feeling of disgust made me realize that money wasn’t my motivation for writing. This feeling of disgust made me realize that I truly am following my passion in trying to create a better life for myself and for others.

Happiness, positivity, and motivation. These are the things that I write about, these are the things that I am passionate about, and these are the things that I am going to pursue in my life. After all of my struggles, I not only want to find happiness, positivity, and motivation in my own life, but I want to help others find these as well.

So what is your motivation in life? It can be success, happiness, fame, or really anything. But whatever it is, don’t lie to yourself. Follow your dreams because they bring you happiness and fulfillment, and always stay true to yourself.

Michael Bonnell

9/22/2018

 

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