It’s essential to work on something you’re deeply interested in. Interest will drive you to work harder than mere diligence ever could. The three most powerful motives are curiosity, delight, and the desire to do something impressive. Sometimes they converge, and that combination is the most powerful of all.
—Paul Graham, How to Do Great Work
Try to do something impressive? That’s never been a big motivator for me. Curiosity and delight? Doing things for the sheer joy of it? That’s me. I try to do that as much as possible. I love being retired, and I don’t take that blessing for granted.
October 22, 2023
I do things for fun. I don’t do anything in “going hard at” as I don’t need to now. Whilst I’m away, I’ve very limited resources…sometimes I feel good about, whilst I’ll want something else…and I don’t have it! So it’s “what I can I do instead”
“What can I do instead?” fosters creativity. I hope you’re having a good time. 🙂
Curiosity is my number one thing in all facets of my life, it is HUGE and so is the delight when I find something and conquer it. but only things I like to do. In highschool, forced to read books I despised, made something I still love to do boring. Reading is my first love over anything. but only the books I love.. bring on the next thing that catches my curiosity bump
I, too, do my best to avoid things I don’t like to do. Life is too short to waste it.
Curiosity is my byword.
🙂
I’m not proud of it, but that’s probably the reason I had poor grades while in school. At least, math and the sciences. My mother was fond of saying, I could do anything if only it interested me.
That’s the great thing about being retired. We get to choose. 🙂
Retirement is great, and is a huge change that takes some getting used to as well.
Yes. 🙂
I agree with you. I’ve never been motivated by trying to do something impressive. I do things because I enjoy them. Doing something I am interested in will drive me to work harder.
It’s so important to have things that we can get enthusiastic about. We’re lucky to have them. 🙂