Money!
That isn’t even close to the truth.
Back in the early days of breakfast TV in the UK there was a powerhouse of a man who burst forth every morning. He was like a squirrel that had consumed a cocktail of energy drinks and caffeine laced with abundant quantities of sugar.
He was appropriately named Mr Motivator.
The plan was that he would get the mothers bouncing around their living rooms once the kids had been safely deposited at school and they had this excess of energy which he could harness to flatten stomachs and trim thighs. The target audience of stay home mothers it seemed would be gullible and willing enough to let a fast talking aerobic instructor guide them from his studio into optimum fitness with a fifteen minutes workout.
I couldn’t bear to listen to him on the few occasions I wasn’t at work and was witness to the carnage.
Money was never going to be enough to sustain me as a motivator. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for it to survive in the culture of today and can operate acceptably within it; but I really hate money, that may be why I seldom carry any.
I dislike the whole grind of financial planning intensely, monthly budgeting and balancing is something that comes in lower than toilet cleaning on my list, considerably lower. I derive no pleasure from a balanced book or a paid bill; to me a healthy bank account means that I have too many decisions to make with regards to the distribution of priorities for that month.
I do like the end result of all that work and recompense brings; to have a house full of happy family or friends eating well and enjoying the culmination of hours spent away from home to make it possible are a joyous result. Or hearing the gratitude of children for new shoes or a surprise dining out together.
Money in and of itself is a poor motivational factor.
To end up like Scrooge Mcduck swimming in his silo of cash and gold is a living nightmare for me. There must be a purpose to it and for it or it is just numbers on a screen that have little more than a subjective influence on my being.
So what is it that motivates this middle aged man to rise at 5am and spend the next 13 hours away from his home and family? At the moment it is the family and home waiting at the other end of it. We start alone and build little lives for ourselves which require effort and finance to maintain; the end motivation will change with the seasons of life but each one is as valid as the last if it is not for mere accumulation.
Over recent months several of my work colleagues have reached the close of work days; one is making that decision today. Some were well past retirement age and worked on for the lack of a better option, one or two have spent the months since leaving in hospital beds because relaxing released all of the adrenalin subdued illnesses.
If retirement is your motivation it is an elusive and fickle target with no guarantees. Let’s be honest..there are never any guarantees at any stage.
My little tribe have lived through the tightest of days following a dream in years past; this is their time just now, the shared love and support which we enjoy, well, that for me is motivation enough.