After reading Dorfam Mirgharavi’s blog and Joyce Li’s blog, it occurred to me that despite each individual’s factors for motivation, it all leads to one idea:

We use these factors to get what we want out of life.  Is our goal to live longer, enjoy each moment, or leave a legacy?

In the big picture, whether it’s money or power that motivate us to turn that alarm off and wake up in the morning, it is helping us maximize our utility. Yes, I just said that. This is assuming that everyone wants to be happy; money (for example) can buy happiness for some people, but what this means is that money=products=happy. For others, health, love, and experience may be the reasons why they do what they do.

Here’s my logic.

Money: it allows us to buy products/services that make us happy

Power: 1) feeling significant and needed like a leader towards a common vision 2) feeling healthy and vibrant

Recognition: achieving goals in life and saying “yep I did that”

It doesn’t matter how we are motivated, but what we do with this motivation.

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. – Jane Austen