Things that motivate you, but other people find it Stupid.

[VirusDumb]

So in a week, I'm going to give a "Board Exam", it's basically the final exam of 10th grade in India, but it'll decide what subjects I'd learn and career foelds I'd be in later in life, So it's a really big deal, and now it's all coming together quickly, it makes me feel tensed, stressed and demotivated. But still I'm endlessly studying hard because of 2 things, the first being something which I've been wanting for years, a new PC, you see, I had wanted a new PC as back as 2016 when the Plants Vs Zombies garden warfare 2 came out, since then I've been researching about PC components on the internet, watching countless videos and ultimately emded up here in this forum, but I couldn't get one as I don't have the money and my parents won't buy me a new pc while our old family pc still works. But this year they promised me to get me a new PC if I scored a 90% in the exam, people keep saying to me "you're stressing your ass out just for a new computer?". But the thing is, that is what I've been grinding for since 2016, that's the reason which made me learn so much about computers and other tech, on the way I've learnt so much, and even helped a lot of my friends to build their PCs, it's like a dream comne true, So that's pne of the things motivating me in life, the other is something which people find even stupider than the PC, it's this picture

 

these are the Royal Enfiled 650 twins, thier my dream bikes, but I'm not legally old enough to ride motorcycles in India, and these things cost 3.5 times the price of an average motorcycle in India (fun fact:- these actually cost double their Indian price abroad, but still most reviews I've seen from abroad call the bike value for money and cheap, even though it's literally double the price, which explains how stupidly overpriced other retro motorcyles are), I want to own them, both of them some day some how, so whenever I see this picture, it motivates me to think about winning in life.

So I just wanted to know are there other things which some people find motivating, others find stupid?

[IAmNik]

Marijuana.

[jones177]

It is nice to have goals.

 

In my youth it was MGB GTs but it never happened. I had to be practical.

Now I don't, so I drive a 2022 Subaru BRZ. Like the MGM GT it is rear wheel drive, stick shift and has a roof. 

 

 

[FakeFarang]

I am not a Royal Enfield fan, but I wouldn't turn one down.  Any two wheels are worth having.  Its all about the journey, and nothing feels like riding  a motorcycle.  I sold my V-Star 1100 before I moved here to Thailand as its not legal to import them here.

 So with a limited budget my daily driver is a Honda Forza 350.  Scooter style, but it moves and is a joy to me.  My next bike I'm planning on is a Honda NC750X DCT.  Feel free to laugh at my choices.  They are in part due to budget and availability.  I know I will enjoy every ride.

 

I am sure you will never forget the first Royal Enfield you buy as well, and no amount of flash or bling will be as good.

 

I hope you obtain your dream machines.  Like I said not a Royal Enfield fan but wouldn't mind owning one.

[VirusDumb]

47 minutes ago, FakeFarang said:

I am sure you will never forget the first Royal Enfield you buy as well, and no amount of flash or bling will be as good.

 

I hope you obtain your dream machines

Yes, I'm still a teenager in school and will be for the next 2-3 years, I won't be able to afford them until I become completely independent of my parents and that'll take like 10 or so years, Until then, seeing them on the street or looking at their pictures will keep motivating me to do things in life, to achieve goals and guess I'll just keep doing that, achieving things. Royal Enfield even though originally a British brand, for Indian people, it's an Indian brand, and a quote from this video

 

Quote

Royal Enfield has managed to create a legacy, of not just selling bikes, but selling dreams.

 

 

[FakeFarang]

34 minutes ago, VirusDumb said:

Yes, I'm still a teenager in school and will be for the next 2-3 years, I won't be able to afford them until I become completely independent of my parents and that'll take like 10 or so years, Until then, seeing them on the street or looking at their pictures will keep motivating me to do things in life, to achieve goals and guess I'll just keep doing that, achieving things. Royal Enfield even though originally a British brand, for Indian people, it's an Indian brand, and a quote from this video

 

 

 

Yes they are a good adventure bike.  It took me a lot longer than it will take you to get my first one.   You have a healthy motivation, and response to it.  If I lived in India it is probably the brand I would buy, as its support outside of the country is hit and miss.  As you achieve different goals, don't forget to enjoy life and treat yourself along the way.  Don't get so involved in becoming the best professional etc that you forget about living the day and get on that bike.   I'm sure you can get one before being independent of your parents.  
 

[airborne spoon]

Is nobody going to question the "board exam"? Like is that the same thing as us Americans take freshman year with the guidance counselor? I don't remember what my results were but i just do what i want anyway.

 

For motivation its money... that drives pretty much every decision i make. Like I'm retiring next year at 38 years old and am currently looking for a house to buy that's under $200k and not in a shithole neighborhood. I could afford more but i want more money to spend on stuff to fuck around and have fun and enjoy my retirement without having to get another job i don't want to work anymore which is why I'm retiring with my pension.

[VirusDumb]

24 minutes ago, airborne spoon said:

Is nobody going to question the "board exam"? Like is that the same thing as us Americans take freshman year with the guidance counselor? I don't remember what my results were but i just do what i want anyway.

Here's the definition from Wikipedia

Quote

In India, board examinations refer to the public examinations that are conducted at the end of the 10th grade education (SSC), and at the end of the 12th grade education (HSC). The scores achieved in these exams are considered very important for getting into universities, professional courses or training programmes and other occupations

And the total marks percentage of the exams are usually supposed to be mentioned in job resumes.

[WhitetailAni]

[IkeaGnome]

1 minute ago, VirusDumb said:

Here's the definition from Wikipedia

And the total marks percentage of the exams are usually supposed to be mentioned in job resumes.

Looks like it's closer to SAT and ACT, but with a "matters more than just for college" twist on it. 

As for my answer to OP. I was motivated coming from almost nothing growing up. Spent the last almost 10 years working to where when I have a wife/kids they can live comfortably, not have to work (I started work at 14 to help step dad and mom pay rent), and not have to worry about providing the best for them that I can. 

Now that I'm getting married in a couple months, getting our stuff all set up and then going to a more "normal" work schedule after we're settled in is a huge motivation.

[IPD]

Technology.  Financial Security and Delayed Gratification.  Ease of use, lack of maintenance, and minimal effort.

 

First off, congrats to @airborne spoon.  It's nice to be able to end one career and be able to add that financial security in your back pocket while you pursue your next one (or whatever goals you have).  Delayed gratification is important to me--because I do want "things"--but I also don't want to be working in my 70's out of necessity.  I want to choose to work because I want to pay for AVGAS or whatnot...not because I need food.

 

For my first and third points, automotive transmissions make my case.  I've hated rowing gears for as long as I can remember.  I don't mind paddle shifters.  I can tolerate sequentials.  I am a die-hard believer in "automatic" transmissions--regardless of what form they are classified under.  I knew 25 years ago that automatics would eventually become faster than manuals.  I knew that because the average consumer has no interest in manually selecting semi-truck numbers of transmission gears--that automatics would be increasingly needed as gear counts rose.  And that clutch pedals would be superseded by the ability to "manually" select gears on the fly--without engaging a clutch manually (this tech is actually older than I am).

 

I also feel that driving an antique is a more representative experience of the epoch it came from--when paired with an automatic.  Because apart from throw length, heaviness of the clutch--and a few other variables that can be fairly easily modified--manuals are quite the same experience across the ages.  Automatics tend to have a distinct flavor.  A 3 speed auto from the 70's has a distinct feel compared to a mid-90's 3 speed + OD.  And both are distinct from the feel of a late-model 8-speed ZF.

 

On the other hand, I don't want smart-connected devices.  I don't want my car connecting to my phone or "phoning home" to get firmware updates for itself.  I don't want my conversations recorded.  I don't want wiretap--err, Alexa--monitoring everything I say/see/do.  I like LED lights.  I don't want them all controlled by my phone.  I don't want my phone to unlock my doors.  I don't even save "home" on my old-school Garmin GPS.  I put in some random location a few blocks from my house.  Technology is cool and intriguing.  "Smart" is not.

[VirusDumb]

9 hours ago, FakeKGB said:

Huh?

[WhitetailAni]

8 minutes ago, VirusDumb said:

Huh?

What motivates me most is when someone writes something really, sadly, wrong in an area that I happen to be well-versed in.

So I can spend hours writing up posts and stuff to correct them, and then...... stare at my APUSH homework for an hour and get no work done.

It's great!

[RasmusDC]

i am an older guy, i think motivations for me have changed all ways through life, i have some elements that are fairly consistent.

 

I think that a problem that i am not fully sure that i can solve, is a big motivator for me, the older i get the more complex the problems become, so in work, budgets are large scale, projects are "innovative" and areas are still new..

 

and then if i need gratification, i take on a new hobby just to learn, the instance i am good at it, i do something else, so my skill set is extremely diverse. as an Business architect, that has also been the MAIN part of the value that i can bring, asides from doing extremely high level strategy i am also quite fast in deep diving, and yes. that has made it possible to do things that some times seem impossible, because you will have a LOT of "no this can be done, i´m the specialists" in all areas, either because of mindset, or this is the "horizon" i look at.

 

So complexity is just really important for me, my brain needs to be removed from "idle thoughts".

 

The other thing in my "older days" is actually coaching, now i am not talking broad coaching and training, because for me the profile that i coach are VERY important, but if i see a bright star, that is open, i tend pull them in, and use a lot of time with them, to support their potential success, first of all to get more of the same mindset into the organization, also because the cooperation just creates better ideas. 

There is also some EGO in it, because it is nice to have people that look up to you, and support your mindset and learn from you.

 

it is fun, people like fakeKGB, that is in the "corrective" state, is normally people that demotivates me, through MANY years of rebuilding organizations, i get that there in many areas is a "truth", but to be honest many of these.. "this is the way it is, and how it is done" has ended up not being right, because things evolve.

 

2 fun sentences i actually define my mindset.

 

also used by many other men, and even in corny series.

 

now it is not the original dante, and i know Kennedy used it.

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality"

 

And the Walt Whitman sentence, used well in Ted Lasso

"Be curious, not judgmental"

 

these two things, very highly defines who i am, and has also cost me a lot career wise, or have not, i don´t really know, i have learned, that i have a highly ethical barometer, so i normally end in fights with leadership, if things are done wrong with for instance against our specialists, makes some leaders not like me, but i sleep better at night, and i think it also supports me actually creating something. 

 

curiosity is a driver, as also stated above, and as said before the judgement part... People say stuff, and yes something it is quite obviously wrong, but use that thing, to ask, WHY, to examine, and to sometimes coach or teach.. just defining that "you are stupid" ends up not making people smarter.

People has to try on opinions, and try on ideas, and yes you fail, and you fail a lot, i would rather have people fail, than not try, and the judgement parts make people stop trying, then becoming "invisible", and i do not want a world, where we end of "hiding" the ACTUAL intelligence, because sometime the innovation comes from the people that everyone is "judging" because they don´t share mindset with them.