<p>I'm almost certain the whole of you answered "yes". However, do you have the determination and motivation to get to the top?</p>
<p>There is a set limit on how much determination and motivation you can put through extrinsic motivation. It takes passion and genuine interest (intrinsic motivation) to put fully employ your determination and motivation to reach the top.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. I mean, money is nice and obviously I wouldn’t choose to make less money all else being equal, but a lot of the careers I’ve considered are low-prestige and don’t pay that much even though math is my favorite subject and there are probably higher-paying things I could do with that if I wanted to. I don’t really want an office job. </p>
<p>My thing is: I want to get a job and prove myself; therefore, moving up the “ladder” at work. What sucks, however, is that if you have fervent passion for something, but it is a low-paying job, then you have to propose a question: Do I want to be happy in what I’m doing while being besot by the burdens of life, or would I rather have a job that a like a little less, but which pays more.</p>
<p>Marry someone rich so you can do whatever you want.</p>
<p>This is probably really cliche and stupid - but I’d much rather make just enough money to sustain myself modestly and wake up every morning doing something I love than take home a huge salary and live a rather extravagant life from a job that I hate.</p>
<p>~50k at most. I hate money. If I make more than I need (emphasis on the /need/), I’m giving the extra away to charity (I mean, I do that already and I make minimum wage and only get 5.5 hours a week…)</p>
<p>I do care and the pay amount does affect my decisions when thinking of a career, because I don’t want to be slave to a system. More importantly, financial independence offers a large amount of freedom in any career I do.</p>