What motivates people beyond a goal?

[The_Dog]

I have a question. There are a number of people on this forum that have enough income from property that they could kick back and do absolutely nothing. But yet, they still work, and in some cases very hard. I know for some people, work starves of boredom, but I am sure there are also other reasons.

So my questions are, what motivates people after they have ‘made it’? Does the definition of ‘financially comfortable’ change after reaching initial financial goals? What are the goals of people, and how do you define when those goals have been achieved? Having ‘arrived’ at a goal, are you disappointed / unsatisfied and immediately retarget? Has anyone set a goal, reached it, and then simply lived the lifestyle with no further growth (as opposed to maintenance) to their portfolio?

Woof!

[Suze]

I think property investing, or just property becomes a disease. You just can't help yourself looking at properties for sale. So enough is never enough and there is no "end". Property is also something you can do until the day you die so "retirement" does'nt come into the equation.
That's how it is for me anyway.

Suze

[Gerrard]

My first job out of polytech paid $23,000. I had a dream (not really a goal at the time) that if I was earning $30,000 by the time I was 30 I would "have it made".

By the time I turned 30 I was earning a lot more than $30k and was living a much different life than I had ever imagined. Naturally from there I set my sights higher (more about lifestyle than money), and property investment has become a way to fulfil the next goal.

I think the people who are serious enough to set goals (rather then just dream) will continue to do so, because it is the challenge and achievement that drives them.

Look at people like Richard Branson and Steve Fossett. They are so loaded it's not funny, but just chasing jobs, business, and money is no longer a motivating challenge to them, so they set other goals and go for it.

These guys get a lot of flak about being rich boys and playing with their toys, but that's not what it is about for them (well, perhaps only a little - boys will be boys).

Gerrard

[orion]

There are a number of people on this forum that have enough income from property that they could kick back and do absolutely nothing. But yet, they still work, and in some cases very hard. I know for some people, work starves of boredom, but I am sure there are also other reasons.
So my questions are, what motivates people after they have ‘made it’? Does the definition of ‘financially comfortable’ change after reaching initial financial goals? What are the goals of people, and how do you define when those goals have been achieved? Having ‘arrived’ at a goal, are you disappointed / unsatisfied and immediately retarget? Has anyone set a goal, reached it, and then simply lived the lifestyle with no further growth (as opposed to maintenance) to their portfolio?

Hi The_Dog, excellent questions.
There is no single right way that suits everyone once they achieve the goal of getting out of the rat race, it is entirely up to the individual and each person does different things. However, everyone that I can think of that I have ever talked to that's retired at a young age (below 45) has found life incredibly boring and therefore goes out again to either work, follow a passion, or contribute to others in some way. There are 4 basic needs or wants that people have; - these are - certainty, variety, significance and love/connection. There are 2 other values or attributes that people go for when these are all satisfied - these are contribution and growth.
Each of your questions are huge subjects on their own, for me I retired twice, once for a couple of years, the next time for 4 years - they were both incredibly boring times. I needed things to stimulate my brain again both times, so set bigger goals for myself to achieve and also help others much more than I used to.

Regards
Graeme Fowler

[Dean@Massiveaction]

I think especially in property there seems to be a lot of people who genuinely want to help others succeed, money being secondary.
For me property is giving me the llife of my dreams and I get great satisfaction out of sharing what I've learnt and seeing other lives changed.

As Graeme alluded to however we are programmed for significance. And for males especially we find significance often through what we do. Money never fills that need for significance. It comes through someone else telling us that we've done well.

[fudosan]

While in college, I learned the Maslow's Law on human psychology, which consists of five levels:

1. Basic needs (water, etc.)
2. Security (shelter, accommodation, job, etc.)
3. Socialization (friendship, fellowship, etc.)
4. Recognition (position, fame, respect, etc.)
5. Self actualization (peace, self-fulfillment, oneness with God, etc.)

Once our basic needs are fulfilled, we tend to move up, and it looks like there is no end to it.

[NZGEMS]

What is Retirement

Yes I ask now what is retirement as I too had retired young but life was so unfulfilling. I used to think I could just sit back and put my feet up once I had my goal of enough properties I didnt have to keep working,

but i found that setting more goals and goals to help others get themselves ahead in life inspired me to get back into it, It made me truly feel like bouncing out of bed in the morning. I dont imagine ever truly retiring but one thing is great, the fact that you can take time off if you choose to and work if you choose, This is true retirement as I see it.

Looking forward to hearing how others are doing too towards their retirement. set yourself some goals and go for it. Anything is acheivable we just have to trust in our own ability and follow our hearts.

Best of luck.

Robyn

[Cliffy]

I have another sort of related question.


Do those of you who are 'financially free' bother taking out life insurance?

With a passive income that (hopefully) will be ongoing for surviving family members is there any need for this?

[Dean@Massiveaction]

I only have life insurance sufficient to pay off all mortgages so my wife will be mortgage free on all properties

[whitt]

I only have life insurance sufficient to pay off all mortgages so my wife will be mortgage free on all properties

Likewise here Dean. May aswell clear all debt on departure and let other half enjoy what you have created.

[kieran]

What motivates people after they have ‘made it’? Does the definition of ‘financially comfortable’ change after reaching initial financial goals?

I think you are talking about 2 different things here.

First you talk about what motivates people who have 'made it' and second you talk of achieving financial goals...

I guess what I am saying is that financial goals alone are only part of the equation and should not be your primary focus...

I have always said that if I can't make money and add sufficient value at a fair price to my 'clients/tenants' I would shut down my businesses. This applies to my personal property investing business (which is why I keep my properties well maintained - to add sufficient value) and equally to my Group of property related businesses!!!

I once read that you need a GREATER PURPOSE in life that is much greater than you and your needs/wants!

You see I am no longer just investing in property or in business to make money... (I think we all know there is more to life than getting rich?) and I could easily say that my greater purpose is "I just want to help others succeed financially or have a roof over their heads" (which by the way was my greater purpose once!). But I have learned that a greater purpose needs to be much more specific and much more significant than that.

I have 'made it' to my financial goals several times but that is not enough to satisfy me. It's not that I get greedy but just that money can only buy so much.
Even a Ferrari is very low on my priority list these days because my priorities have changed! And 10 years ago $1Million was a lot of money but today it's almost insignificant to say "I'm a millionaire!"

So I think the motivation to keep me going comes from my GREATER PURPOSE in life... If you are clear on your greater purpose then it doesn't matter how hard you have to work, because you are working on something that is much bigger than you!

Personally I have found my greater purpose has been adjusted/redefined a few times in the last 9 years of being self employed (by the way if you want to find out what your greater purpose in life is then I suggest you start your own business... it's an amazing place to learn about yourself and others...).

My greater purpose has evolved as my resources have increased... and I realised I had the power to contribute more to my greater purpose. The latest evolution of my greater purpose was just a few months ago and whilst I don't wish to disclose my greater purpose at the moment I am already getting great satisfaction out of actively achieving a little more of my greater purpose every day! That is where my true motivation comes from.. I am so excited by my greater purpose that it literally keeps me awake at night, and gets me out of bed in the morning!

And my greater purpose is not about me... but it does need me to be able to achieve it and yes there happen tro be some financial rewards along the way for me but that is a by-product of my greater purpose NOT the focus! In fact I believe there is no-one else in the world who could achieve my greater purpose like I can!

Sometimes I find myself doing things (I would normally charge for) for no financial reward and whenever I stop to consider why I am doing that I have found that I am subconciously working on achieving my greater purpose.

I have come to the conclusion that the 'financial freedom' journey we are all on is not really about discovering financial wealth but discovering who the real 'me' is and why we are on this earth in the first place (i.e. what could be your greater purpose?). And no there is no religous message here just a journey of self discovery and establishing internal belief systems, a value set to match and then building habits that re-inforce those internal beliefs. And yes this all takes some effort, money and time (I found it was made easier with the help of books and life-coaching which I used heavily about 6-7 years ago)

I hope this all doesn't sound too 'new age' but it's just that I wanted to share my thoughts.

[zed]

Does the definition of ‘financially comfortable’ change after reaching initial financial goals?
Woof!

I believe that quality of lifestyle increases in direct proportion to available disposable income. ie the more you earn, the more your wife spends!

Oops, here she comes... better get back to work.

zed

[zensei]

Speaking of how people evolve and 'greater purpose', that reminds me of what Jung said in "Modern Man in Search of His Soul" about the 4 developmental stages called archetypes. He said that when you become an adult, you are going through these archetypes.

The lowest of them is what he called the archetype of the athlete, which is the time in our adult life when our emphasis is on our body and what it looks like and what it does. These become our means of identification.

As people mature, they move into the next one, which is the archetype of the warrior. This is the time in our adult life when our primary emphasis shifts into what we can go out into the world and do in competition with other people. We rate ourselves on the basis on how much stuff we have, who we can defeat, who we're better than etc...

The next one is the archetype of the statesman, which is the time in our adult lives when we stop asking what my goals are and begin to serve, instead of asking what's in it for me.

The highest archetype is the archetype of the spirit, which is when you understand what it means to be "in this world but not of this world" and there is something more in this universe than us.

Kieran, I think your inspiring story can be a good example of this

[The_Dog]

It's interesting reading back over this as the was a year ago that I made the original post.

In the last couple of weeks I have revised my portfolio strategy, and successfully raised a $100k line of credit using existing equity. A year ago, I got rejected by two banks when trying to raise a slightly larger amount secured against a purchase.

The strategy I revised was dated Dec 03, and it was really exciting to see how far my thinking had progressed. In no small way, this forum is responsible for that change in thinking.

Yes, there has been capital growth in the last year, but as my limiting factor is serviceability, equity is not an issue for me. I do feel that the strategy, my approach, and pre-positioning the bank with a far more experienced and positive approach allowed me to raise the money, which only a year ago seemed impossible.

As far as goals go and motivation, I seem to be struggling with the short term motivation at the moment rather than the long term. I see people enjoying the summer (which rightly should be rejoiced in the UK - they only come every 3 years!), splashing out money on new gadgets etc, where as I'm removing tiles, or slaving away on the computer late into the night instead of spanking my loved ones. It's really hard to keep going sometimes but the way I see it, I don't want to be average, and so above average effort is required.

The concept of greater purpose has been raised in this forum before, and I have ideas of what I want to do. I would like to take kids (living rough) off the street, and get them to work on my properties. I think giving them some pride and purpose will lead to them getting jobs and finding their own feet. How exactly it will all work, I'm not sure. I don't want to upset the IRD, be accused of slave labour, and I don't think I'm yet equipped to handle drug related issues, but the thought is there.

It will be interesting to see where I am in a year from now...

The Dog