so how do you decide what is your best life? work towards growth and fulfilling a motivation in a good way. something is good for you, if it comes from those motivations.
motivation is an aspect people mention a lot. it is a magical fairy dragon which solves all problems. to find motivation, sometimes people refer to energy, and that it comes in a can of coffee, online e-course, or new computer eye glasses.
the reason 'following passion' or 'being more motivated' has not solved peoples' problems is because it is conflating and confusing multiple drives.
it is like looking for a partner that is supposed to be beautiful, smart, funny, your coach, your mentor, your best friend, your social circle, your fitness instructor, your personal body guard, your cook, your psychologist, your advocate, your ... you see what i mean?
people should be aware about their motivations. well motivated goals outweigh poorly motivated goals. accordingly, the pursuit of goals from a good motivation is of more substance than the pursuit of a goal from a poor motivation. almost no goal is inherently worth achieving.
achievement of the goal is a separate topic, as i’ll later, but at this junction i'll repeat almost no goal is worth achieving at the expense of all else.
everything is about context. achieving a goal from a poor motivation does not change much in the person, does not grow the person, except maybe to show them that there is still something missing. sometimes people never figure this out. when i was in school, i took all the hardest classes, did multiple sports, and multiple academic teams and extracurricular activities. on the flip side of that, i thought it was normal to 'break down' once every three months from the stress, and just start crying out of no where. i was constantly putting out fires, and running from one thing to another. not a great way to live life. there was a positive side though, in that i 'achieved' more than most anyone at my school. i graduated near the top of my class, knew a lot of people, and when you took into account all the other stuff i did, i started winning every scholarship and college admission that came along. then i got to college, and i realized that it was a lot of achievement, but it was also fleeting: no one knew who i was or what i had done. sure, i had some credit, just by being there, but there had to be more to life than repeating this process. additionally, it was fun to be 'at the top,' but there had to be a way to do it in a better (read: healthier) way.
there are other people, who, find an interior motivation. you do that, you win. you still have a ton of work to do. if you want 'win' financially in a sustainable way, you win when you match an interior motivation with a network, skillset, marketing, a market, opportunity. you want to win at life? now add consider health, psychological well being, emotional health, your location, your family, your friends. that is why 'following your passion' or 'be more motivated' doesn't work: it covers too much ground without telling you about what you need to do. get an idea of the shape of what i've talked about and you've created something worth going for that is defined by you. have you ever seen a kid who just likes to read? or loves to act? or just play? there is a natural enthusiasm for it. have you ever seen a kid so into a cartoon because of the marketing? that's the misguided shade of the same thing.
there is working through your own life for things that you find fulfilling. there is also working through life for things that others deem valuable. sometimes these match up. sometimes they do not. one thing i know, is that if you are working through the latter, at the expense of the former, you will eventually burn out. my biggest worry is that, well, i would say, i would want you to build something that you find valuable and fulfilling, in the market and personally. live it.