Is money your motivator?

[GMDino]

My wife and I were talking last night with our future son-in-law.  He is changing his MOS to carpentry and masonry and one of the motivators was a pay raise along with more opportunities.  (He was/is construction, earthmoving, etc...)

He's still 19 and they won't be married for a couple years but we told him we were glad he already looking to better himself.

But what was interesting (to me) was that while there is more money involved he though beyond that too.  He was talking about how the skills would help when they bought house since they want to get a cheaper fixer-up.  And how he could find more work throughout the year.

Afterwards I was thinking about how over the years it drove other people crazy that money didn't motivate me as much as liking what I was doing and doing a good job at it.

Through all the jobs and all the industries I asked for a raise once.  I had bought a new car and the price I negotiate (hard to believe, eh) was about $10 more a month than I wanted to spend.  So I asked my boss for a $20 a month raise to cover that.  He gave it to me.

But still, I'd rather be happy than kill myself to be rich.

My mother never understood it.  My wife didn't for years.

Then about five or six years ago I reconnected with a college friend on FB.  He's a bigwig with some company he was with on the ground floor.  Flying around the country, making big deals.  Doing really well for himself! 

He and I agreed on 98% of things from sports to pop culture.  We disagreed on politics...a lot.  And then we disagreed about how hard someone should work.

His argument was that all that time away from home was his way of taking care of his family.  Making sure they could have the best of everything.  And in retrospect that shouldn't have surprised me.  He was a work hard/play hard type.  His vacation pictures made that clear! LOL!

My argument was that I was doing okay, we lived comfortably and splurged when we could...but I would rather be able to be home every night.  I didn't want to miss the kids growing up just so they could have a nicer bike or better hotel stay on vacation.

My time is more valuable than any job can pay me to give up.

And over that I lost that friend.

I'm still that way though.  I'd rather not give up my free time/family time for an extra dollar or two.  

Would life be easier?  Sure.  Would it be better?  I don't believe so.

What say you?

[Au165]

Who says you can't have both? I have found that if you are valuable you have leverage. You can then parlay that leverage into all sorts of things that work in your favor. I have used the leverage I have acquired for promotions as well as limits on how much I am required to travel for work. I enjoy the people I work with and what I do, and I have been fortunate that each time I have been interested in leaving they have given me a promotion, and created positions for me to be promoted into, in order to keep me around.

If you believe you have to choose between money or happiness in your job then you aren't in the right situation.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

You lost a friend over that?

[GMDino]

(09-18-2017, 05:08 PM)Au165 Wrote: Who says you can't have both? I have found that if you are valuable you have leverage. You can then parlay that leverage into all sorts of things that work in your favor. I have used the leverage I have acquired for promotions as well as limits on how much I am required to travel for work. I enjoy the people I work with and what I do, and I have been fortunate that each time I have been interested in leaving they have given me a promotion, and created positions for me to be promoted into, in order to keep me around.

If you believe you have to choose between money or happiness in your job then you aren't in the right situation.

Where it comes down to me is I can't be miserable at my job.  For example my job now can be stressful and at time I'd like to quit, but I have a certain amount of freedom to do what I want and the pay is good.

So it wasn't just "being happy" but also the balance of how happy vs how miserable and what the other benefits were.

I see your point.

[GMDino]

(09-18-2017, 05:10 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: You lost a friend over that?

Yep.  Completely blocked me.  Maybe I hit a nerve.

[Au165]

(09-18-2017, 05:12 PM)GMDino Wrote: Where it comes down to me is I can't be miserable at my job.  For example my job now can be stressful and at time I'd like to quit, but I have a certain amount of freedom to do what I want and the pay is good.

So it wasn't just "being happy" but also the balance of how happy vs how miserable and what the other benefits were.

I see your point.

I get that for sure. My wife worked somewhere for a couple years after college and she hated it, it wasn't what she wanted to do in life and it was stressful. She dreaded going to work every day and eventually she got fired. She thought it was the end of the world, but she ended up closer to home doing what she wanted to do making better money. She just hadn't found the right situation for her, but now she is on a good upward trajectory doing what she wants and enjoys her company.

With that said her first company was a very large company, while I work for a smaller company. I have found that for me, I will probably always work for small companies as I find the structure and situation is much more suited to how I like to work. I think that has a lot to do with how our "first job out of college" experiences turned out differently.

[GMDino]

(09-18-2017, 05:20 PM)Au165 Wrote: I get that for sure. My wife worked somewhere for a couple years after college and she hated it, it wasn't what she wanted to do in life and it was stressful. She dreaded going to work every day and eventually she got fired. She thought it was the end of the world, but she ended up closer to home doing what she wanted to do making better money. She just hadn't found the right situation for her, but now she is on a good upward trajectory doing what she wants and enjoys her company.

With that said her first company was a very large company, while I work for a smaller company. I have found that for me, I will probably always work for small companies as I find the structure and situation is much more suited to how I like to work. I think that has a lot to do with how our "first job out of college" experiences turned out differently.

Totally agree on the smaller companies.

The one I was with before my current job had just gone public a year before I quit.  My boss at the time asked what I would do if something happened to my new boss (single owner).  I told him I'd worry about that if it happened.

Within two years the other place had sold out and closed the locations I worked at.

Here our owner died 12 years ago and the family kept it going.

I'd much rather have been here.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Obviously the only acceptable answer:

[Yojimbo]

I think the work/life balance ratio is different for everybody. I just started a new career 6 months ago and I'm a MILLION times more happy in my job, but I'd still rather not be at work. I'm not rich and I don't plan on ever being in a job that makes me rich, I'm more concerned with low stress, benefits and a pension.

I'd much rather be at a small private company over a large publicly owned one. Once Wallstreet gets involved, every decision and worker becomes nothing but dollar signs.

[*michaelsean*]

The only reason I work is for money. Perhaps if I found something I loved to do it would be different.

[GMDino]

(09-18-2017, 05:42 PM)michaelsean Wrote: The only reason I work is for money.  Perhaps if I found something I loved to do it would be different.

I had a job a loved.  But it didn't pay at all.  And if I had wanted to make more money it would have involved giving up a lot more than I was willing to do at the time.  In fact the little bit more I did give just burned me out on it completely.

I'd go back and do it in a heartbeat but I wouldn't be able to live on it.

[*michaelsean*]

(09-18-2017, 05:48 PM)GMDino Wrote: I had a job a loved.  But it didn't pay at all.  And if I had wanted to make more money it would have involved giving up a lot more than I was willing to do at the time.  In fact the little bit more I did give just burned me out on it completely.

I'd go back and do it in a heartbeat but I wouldn't be able to live on it.

that's the thing.  Can you afford to do what you love.  The lucky ones can.  Now I could make more money than I do now, but I don't want to travel all the time.

[StLucieBengal]

Just be happy with whatever you chose as your path. We all choose a different path with different ideas on life.

[Belsnickel]

Money is a motivator, but it isn't my primary motivator. I wouldn't work in public service if it was.

[Benton]

For everyone, it's a balance.

You make time for things that are important. That may be family, that may be a career, that may be the 1969 Camaro basket case in the garage. For everyone it's different. Hell, at time of life it's different.

For me, money is rarely a motivator. For my wife, it is. She works hard, she spends hard. She makes good money, too. For me, I spend most of my checks on the kids, maybe a new bow every once in a while. But I've got different interests.

[CKwi88]

For me it has always been a balance. Even if your main goal is simply stability, the financial aspect is always there. But one of the first lessons I remember from my old man was: "If you wake up in the morning and think 'aw shit I have to go to work,' start thinking about a change."

I've been fortunate enough to never really look at the (career) jobs that I've had and never have really seen them as work. Being a teacher was a lot of fun in my mind, and being in public servant in the courts has been very dynamic and always something new every day. Throughout it all I just made sure that my own lifestyle fit within the means that my job provided for me, rather than establish what I desire as a standard of living and then busting my ass trying to maintain it. As long as I'm content, that's what is important to me.

Take my current situation. Sure, I could be making probably 3x what I make working in the private sector. But then I'd have to work just to find work, worry about a paycheck that varies, work wonky hours, have to find my own health insurance, pension, vacation, the list goes on. It's worth the lesser paycheck for me to check into my job at 9, check out at 5, and not have any of my work or responsibility follow me home. Peace of mind and stability have their value as well.

Money will always be a motivator. For some it is the first, and that's not always a bad thing. Children, for example, need a lot of it, and I'm sure most parents want to provide as best they can. But if it becomes such a priority that you are miserable for the greater part of your day, that's when I would start to question if it is worth it, and try and find a better balance.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Happiness is my motivator.

[Bengalzona]

I held a wide range of jobs in my youth. Some of them I took just to pay the bills for a short while. Others I chose in order to try and fulfill a certain passion. Eventually, I ended up in my current job which combines aspects of both (it pays the bills and provides a sufficient degree of gratification).

For some people, like myself, I think that is the ultimate goal. A job that provides enough income to support the lifestyle you find reasonable while also fulfilling other needs (i.e. spiritual, ego, power, etc.).

Other people are different. A job is always a means to an end: primarily to provide the money for the things they want.

And still there are other people where gratification in what they are doing is the only reason they can find to do anything.

I think it is a spectrum. While I have my preference, I think each school of thought has its own benefits and drawbacks. None are necessarily superior or inferior to the others except through the subjective eyes of an individual. In other words, if money is your prime motivator, then more power to you. As long as you don't try to push or force that thought on me, we cool.

All of that said, this society is so tilted towards the attainment of wealth, it is almost ridiculous.

[BengalHawk62]

Mo' money, mo' problems.