I just read the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel. I think it does a fantastic job of answering the questions about the meaning of life.<p>Viktor came up with the theory of Logotherapy which in a nutshell has 3 parts:<p>- Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.<p>- Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.<p>- We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/...</a>
I'm motivated by the pursuit of things that interest me because I perceive them to be worth knowing.<p>Unfortunately, crippling depression and a looming feeling of nihilism are sucking most of my motivation away.
Motivation is a really tough one. Honestly, I am mostly motivated to go out of my way for delicious food and seeing friends. But if you're talking about motivation for productivity, it's more complicated. I've written about this before on HN:<p>In my younger and more foolish days, and inspired by Steve Jobs, I tried to literally live life as if every day were my last in an effort to be productive. I discovered that if it were my last day on earth, I would much rather spend the time joking around with friends or family rather than working, and I fell into a depressive funk.<p>Abstract thoughts about death, while depressive, don't motivate me. What does end up "motivating" me are developing habits. In order to develop habits, I use pathetically achievable goals:<p>I find goals to be counterproductive unless they're simply achieved and a matter of habit. For instance, "go to the gym and do nothing" became "go to the gym and walk on the treadmill" when I became habituated to showing up at the gym. Now I'm lifting regularly and I feel off if I don't get a chance to go work out.<p>Audacious goals, on the other hand, are demotivating because there's too much chance of failure. If I hold myself to lifting certain weights, I may even end up getting injured. But now I'm happy simply showing up, doing what I have the capacity for, whether it's walking, stretching, or lifting. I can (and will) come back if I have an off day.<p>Scott Adams talks about something similar in Goals vs Systems[1]. A goal of writing a book is much harder to achieve than a goal of typing a little bit in the morning. Ironically, the latter may be the best route to the former...as long as you don't think about it too much :)<p>[1]: <a href="http://blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems" rel="nofollow">http://blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems</a>
Hi Everyone - I work as the executive assistant to the Chief Information Officer at my company. I am so envious of my developer colleagues and would love to learn how to code. Any suggestions on where I should start? My colleague recommended the W3Schools online. Any other suggestions you may have? Thanks soooo much!
What motivates me is far from what I do for 8 hours a day (sitting behind a desk and writing code).<p>Honestly, it's the belief that communities, at the level of grassroots, can be empowered to be further engaged in the social discourses of their society. I have a strong belief that while our government powers are playing politics, families who are living in impoverished neighborhoods can be encouraged to be active agents of change and can move populations. I'm working with a couple non-profit organizations (that are around the world) that do exactly this and the results we see are incredibly encouraging and endearing. Not only are youth getting excited and working in their communities, their siblings and parents are also getting involved. If it wasn't for this work (of which I spend hours _after work_ partaking in), I don't know what would motivate me.<p>EDIT: Just to clarify, this empowerment comes through education at the level of the neighborhood. Looking at this practically, it means training our younger future generations and providing them the tools they need to succeed (getting a good education in school, living a moral life, being a good citizen, etc). All this through a process of learning at the level of the organizations I'm working with.
Knowledge. I received my Masters in CS last year and am thinking of either getting another one or a PhD. I didn't need my Masters as I probably could have gotten a dev job without it (my BS was in Economics) but there were things I wanted to learn (PL theory and Compilers) so I did it. I would love to be able to do one or more PhDs full time so I could just absorb as much information as I could in specialized areas.<p>The other thing that motivates me is financial freedom. It doesn't necessarily mean making tons of money but making enough to cover expenses and not have to worry about a budget. I'm currently working on a side project/business that I hope will at least cover my mortgage and student loans each month. I have low expectations but that is what I hope and if I get more than that it would be great.
I'm motivated by all aspects of my life:<p>1. I want to explore the world: hear people's stories, learn new ideas, experience all the diversity and craziness there is in the world, have moments of childlike wonder.<p>2. I want to help people: victims of war, families in poverty, people who did not get a childhood or a fulfilling education, people who are not able to achieve their full potential.<p>3. I want to see myself grow. I'm curious as to how my abilities, my personality, and my outlook on life will change in the next decades.<p>4. I look forward to meeting the love of my life, raising a family, and participating in a close-knit, medium-sized community.<p>I may not achieve all of these things, and I will likely be have regrets and dissatisfactions, but on the whole, life has been a worthwhile journey, and I expect the future will be worthwhile as well.
In the context of work: the act of “creation” i.e. abstracting some reality into tiny encoded parts that elegantly fit together to perform something useful.<p>In the context of life: it does derive itself from work i.e. I need work - other than that I don't believe in perfect balance, there's no such thing in life.<p>I'm usually trying to be an active nihilist i.e. less a passive one as much as I can. So I guess something in the realm of a “quest” of knowledge - the known unknowns and the yummy unknown unknowns.
Curiosity and the desire to do things which I enjoy. I also like learning and 1 year ago moved to Germany. I now speak exclusively in German as an IT consultant here after only 2 years of learning.<p>That said. I don't put too much pressure on myself. I have goals but I'm also human and don't want to take life too seriously. I don't think it necessarily matters if I reach all of them or just a few. I see them as simply markers of directions I could move in that might make for some sort of exciting experience that lets me experience the joys and sometimes struggles of being alive.
I like building things, not just code. I think it's a sense of personal satisfaction from creating something where there was nothing and sharing it with others. Most of the time nobody cares, so it's always nice when somebody else likes it.<p>Lately I've been mixing relaxation music that's really just royalty free recordings of nature and royalty free piano music.
Facilitating better living and working for the people around me; that's what motivates me, and it's why I became an engineer. Seeing something I've built help someone makes me ridiculously happy!
2. Changing the world outside myself to have more of what I value.<p>1. Changing the inside of myself to have more of what I value.<p>If you're looking for more motivation, start with self-examination of what it is you deeply value.
Love, happiness, curiosity, and a seething rage at seeing the world around me deprived of those vital things on so regular a basis.<p>I make no claim to being a healthy or normal individual.