Ask HN: What keeps you motivated to keep going?

7 points by amznbyebyebye ↗ HN
Just curious.

Is it money? Family? Prestige? You genuinely enjoy what you do?

7 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 27.9 ms ] thread
At this point, pretty much a desire for survival.

Working remotely, almost perpetually stuck in COVID lockdowns/restrictions in Canada for the past 2 years, not having many friends/family and not being able to visit them (they’re all over 10,000km away) for nearly 3 years now, and a partner who’s recently been diagnosed with depression is all taking its toll.

Wow I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you find the strength to keep going.
Depending on the day and situation I go up and down

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

I get some self-actualization and transcendence, enjoy a lot of aesthetic pleasure. Right now I am thinking about the physiological need of hunger and will go eat after, feel pretty safe, I feel good about myself in most respects but have a certain hole in my self-image that needs some worth.

Unlike a lot of people I see my current job as a solution rather than a problem and side projects as a answer to growth.

That’s interesting. How do you find your current job as a solution?
Between my wife and I there is no stress about money.

Emotional positives are stronger than the negatives. I think my work is meaningful. The people are nice.

I learn things I can't learn at work through doing side projects; interestingly there is a lot of synergy in that my side projects have taught me to be stronger at my weakest areas at work (visual aspects of UI) at my own pace.