I wish money alone did more to motivate me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to virtue signal here. My lack of motivation pertaining to money says nothing about selflessness, charitableness or any other kind of virtue. I simply recognize that monetary success, the acquisition of wealth, etc. does very little to motivate me.
I am however an envious man. I am envious of those who might be described as greedy as it pertains to money and wealth. And truth be told, I would feel no shame if I were a greedy man. According to the dictionary, greed is defined as 'an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.' An intense and selfish desire for money harms no one. It would however provide a person with steady motivation throughout their life.
If you are familiar with the MBTI personality system, I am an INTP. In fact, I'll bet many of you are too. And one aspect of my personality is that we tend to be content with rather spartan like conditions. In fact we are so unconcerned with our environment that we are one of the worst types at caring for ourselves, and being horrible at self care is a flaw, not a virtue. Until a basic physical need is at risk, it can be incredibly difficult to find the motivation to engage in activities for the sake of money and resources. This leads to an incredibly unhealthy situation where your life, financial or otherwise, can be careening into disaster while you do nothing to save yourself. It is a curious thing, really - knowing that you could be at risk of complete ruin, but not caring enough about money or yourself to take action. This is why I wish my motivational engine were wired more like an artisan. Or maybe an ENTJ. Maybe one of those sales types that would snort powdered silver off of a toilet seat. I wish the simple act of obtaining cash would give me a drug-like high or cause a euphoric dance break.
But alas, I am satiated with a gadget or two, and basic physical comforts. Like many of you reading this, I am more motivated and obsessed with the world of ideas inside my head than anything in the world I actually have to live in. And I honestly feel like I'm at a disadvantage as a result. Someone who is 'greedy' - who intensely desires and pursues financial success - builds the skills and knowledge necessary to yield the greatest amount of money possible for themselves throughout their life. This is in stark contrast to we head-dwellers who get our highs from creative activities that are not so easily monetized. We have to choose between activities that give us satisfaction and those that reward us with money. Wouldn't it be awesome if those were one in the same? This is where the workaholics and greedy bastards have an advantage. If money gives them the high, then their job is what they will spend time on, they don't have to choose between the money making activity and the satisfying activity. It is a perfect loop of motivational reinforcement.
Now this is not to say that other types of people don't like money. Money is simply a very liquid commodity, and acquiring more of it begins to open up more opportunities for the activities you get your high from. It is the great enabler of the creative things we want to spend all of our time on.
Critics of the workaholic and the greedy bastard would certainly love to highlight the midlife crisis. 'Poor quality of life' they would say. Money isn't really what matters, right? Surely they'll have regrets and miss out on the important things in life. Well, most people don't have life figured out early on anyway. But once the work-addicted greedy bastard does have their epiphany about what they want out of life or how they want to spend their time, they have the advantage of a pile of cash to dry their tears with, and then spend on the personal pursuits that make them happy.
Even if you wanted to be charitable and do something for your fellow man, a person with an obsessive desire to pursue money throughout their life has an advantage. You cannot pour from an empty cup. If you quit that million dollar hedge fund manager job after having your mid-life epiphany, you now have a big ass cup to unleash on the disenfranchised. You can now fund whatever charities you want, or start your very own.
Have you ever come across one of those articles on entrepreneur.com or business insider that highlights a startup success story? Usually it goes something like this. "He was working hard at Google, but just didn't find the work satisfying. So then he did something crazy - he TOOK THE LEAP, quit his 6 figure job and struck out on his own. " - at which point I throw up in my mouth a little. Oh really? What happened? So scary. My god, did he end up on the street? I'm biting my fucking nails here.
The thing about having a 6 figure job at Google is that you don't have to pretend like you'll never find another 6 figure job if your startup or world travel plans go sideways. If you landed that position once, you're an attractive candidate in the marketplace. It would be like professional model afraid to break up with her boyfriend because maybe no man will ever want her again.
The midlife crisis or life epiphany is infinitely easier to act upon when you have the capital to either fund it, or live on while you spend your time on what makes you happy if money is not giving you the same high anymore. So here's to you, workaholics. Hats off to the greedy bastards. I truly wish I were wired more like you. But I was tragically born without a motivational engine that runs on pure 200 proof high-octane greed. Without it, I feel like an ideas junkie. I may very well have the creative potential to make things that would lead to money, but without that engine it can be difficult to motivate ourselves to execute or finish our plans. Bringing valuable services and products to the marketplace requires action and proper execution. The benefit of greed is that the marketplace rewards us with money, and if the motivation to obtain it isn't there, we risk becoming junkies that wallow in the good stuff, lacking the drive to get off our ass and sell it.