I’m in my 20s and I make a decent living, nothing extraordinary but enough to get by and have some fun, and I constantly find the people around me always chasing money and lavish lifestyles. That life doesn’t really appeal to me but I feel like it’s a tool that many use as motivation to achieve their goals. I’m curious what other people like myself are motivated by if they’re not seeking the “multi-millionaire” lifestyle?

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  6. Helping other people and animals. My wife and I both have Master’s degrees and neither make six figures, nor did we ever plan to.

  7. Life. I don’t believe that I will live long. So, I try to live it “fully” (when I can afford it).

  9. Thats the only thing I somehow know and can do well, also its the only stability I have to keep going somehow in life, have no one that could help me if I don’t work and fail

  11. I’m in my early 30’s, and ATM literally almost nothing. But when I figure it out I’ll let you know. 😅

  12. Doing interesting things and challenges.

    I don’t get the whole “luxury lifestyle” thing since it seems to be just coddling yourself. Sitting in a hot tub drinking champagne or buying/wearing fancy watches or visiting fancy hotels or whatever is just super boring to me so I’m not into that one bit.

  13. Making others successful. Put the focus on them. Find a few leaders like you and make partners with them and grow as a team. It’s way better than doing it alone!

  14. Excitment, adventure, fun, new experiences, learning, meeting people and making the world a better place.

    Money just lets me buy stuff. It’s nice, but no big deal. After you own a certain amount of stuff it just gets in the way.

  17. Happiness drives me.

    While money helps with that, I don’t need alot to be happy.

    I have simple tastes, i constantly find expensive things/pursuits to be kinda “blah”, i just don’t see the appeal.

    Different strokes for different folks i guess. I know a fair number of people who make twice or more what i do. Yet they’re always broke because they have horrendously expensive tastes.

  20. I want to have as much freetime as possible while having a nice living standard. I want to be able to have a good, relaxed life. I dont want work to dominate my life. I dont chase money, solely for the purpose of being rich

  22. Security. I don’t care about living lavishly, but I do care about having enough money that I’m covered if anything bad happens. Having large amounts of savings is how you deal with layoffs, disability, and other emergencies. It’s also how you know that you’ll be secure in retirement.

    > the multi-millionaire lifestyle

    Most multi-millionaires live frugally. They drive base-model sedans and trucks, they wear functional clothes, they live in modest houses that are paid off, and they are prudent in their investments. They are indistinguishable from people who make far less than them until you really get to know them and realize that they never, ever have to stress about affording anything. Using an inversion of the old quote, they have beer tastes on a champagne budget.

    The people who are living lavishly are far less wealthy than they portray themselves to be.

  25. It’s not so much not motivated by money, but less need to spend it. I play football(soccer) and golf regularly, I have 8-year-old boots I polish and clean and try to mend because I know the feeling of controlling a ball and good connection, same with the gold clubs which are maybe 15 years old. It’s like that with most things I own, they’ve seen me through thick and thin and I know them to a degree, and they were worth spending some money on to get the right ones.

    Other than that I love the feeling of seeing a project come together, be that a bunch of timber and tools turned into something, or working on a big management proposal for an estate or something, it doesn’t matter what it is or the scale, but appreciating where you started and what you arrived at is fun.

    Then any kind of physical test on myself. I remember being young and playing sports and coming home so cream-crackered that it felt like my lungs were on fire or worn out, and my muscles were achy and weak. The older I get the less I get that feeling as I used to and I miss it, there’s nothing left me feeling as contented as running a half marathon obstacle course where I was slow as shit, but completed it and too tired to eat after.

  27. Building something bigger than myself. I’ve helped with the spaceflight missions, among other things. Knowing my work is supporting mankind’s ascent keeps me showing up and trying.

  28. Gaining new life experiences and exploring this world. The money is nothing but a means to that end for me.

  30. Women.

    Or woman.

    Aside from that, it’s the desire to create original solutions and contributions to society.

  32. I like creating solutions and solving problems, so one of the possibilities is working in software development.

  34. I just don’t want to be useless. I want to see the people I work with and for succeed. I want to keep my parents worry-free, and I’m happy to finally see them start living for themselves, as my brothers and I can sustain ourselves.

  35. I’m motivated by looking forward to the future and the small things that get me there. Enjoying a meal while watching a show I enjoy, waiting for a new game to come out, hanging with my cat, getting a text from a friend I haven’t talked to for a while, hanging on the chance I might end up in a relationship, waiting until I can visit my parents again and get a nice homecooked meal, staying afloat so I can be a good uncle for my niece when she’s older. It’s very small things, but all together they keep me going. I need small things to get me through the day so I can get to the bigger things that are months or years away from now. Money is a thing yea, but it’s just so I can afford to do those things I listed. I don’t need a lot.

  36. Dependents. I know it’s not healthy, but having pets or people relying on me motivates me to do the thing.

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