What else motivate you?

I can write a long list of things that demotivate me from studying for certs; but that's not what this thread's about.

To make it concise and useful, I have two questions:

1) I found that looking at jobs that pay 2x times my current salary motivate me. So I guess money is the motivator here? It's strange because I don't have a clear idea on what or why those figures motivate me but they do. The question here is do you get motivated when you see positions similar to yours or few level above that pay a lot?? Do you feel motivated to study and get those damn figures?

2) What else motivate you? What makes you go home and open the books/labs? What makes you say no to going out and socializing and just stay at home and study for 3+ hours after work? To narrow the question, what is your STRONGEST motivator?

I know some (a lot) of you and myself included are motivated by the fact that we don't want to be jobless, but this is just fear. I know that if I lose my job I can just do anything. I'm looking for motivation that's not fear based. My brain doesn't work well with fear-based motivations. Fear doesn't motivate me, it does the opposite to me, unfortunately.

This is an open question, feel free to share your story, I'd love to hear them. I've been in dire need for motivation for years. It comes and goes.

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the_Grinch

With my new job there is a lot that motivates me. Most important of all is the fact that I will have to testify at some point and if I'm not on point it could be extremely costly (reputation, case, victim's anguish). But on the positive side I am looked at as the technical expert and it's pretty nice to garner a lot of respect so early on. Plus being able to work with a lot of different units and departments makes me want to be the best at what I do so I can help them and serve the people of my state.

PCTechLinc

This actually reminds me of a conversation I had with my former student yesterday. We were talking about where our careers were going (she's working for a CSU as IT, and I'm working contracted for the govt), and what motivates us to continue with education. She is currently studying ICND2 because CCNA is a prerequisite for the Master's program at WGU, since she doesn't have security experience. Her motivation is to make herself more marketable as a female in tech.

My motivation, although money is a very important factor, as my wife doesn't work, is not my PRIMARY factor. My motivation is just the fact that I love computers and networking so much, that I consider learning about technology a hobby. Sometimes it's hard to keep thinking that if you do what you love and you're good at it, you won't have to worry about money. I've found difficulties with that lately, but I keep my faith thinking that eventually I will get all my finances under control, and have a job that I love, and won't have to worry about losing.

In the end, I'm glad I've been working with computers for 30 years, and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I don't have any regrets, but if I could think of one, it would probably be that I wish I pursued the CCNA more aggressively back in the late 90's when I was a teenager. My goal is still to become a CCIE, but it would have been really cool to have a number less than 2000, especially at my age back then.

I'm rambling now, so I'll stop. I don't know if that gave you the motivation you were looking for, but that's the story I kept telling my students.

636-555-3226

lifelong gamer. always liked levelling up my characters, including grinding. that carries over into my real life, too, i guess. i can't stop studying or getting certs. maybe its an addiction, who knows. money's a good motivating factor, too, esp. for someone who wants to retire real early so i can enjoy life while i'm still able to move around and enjoy it.

UnixGuy

636-555-3226 wrote: »

... for someone who wants to retire real early so i can enjoy life while i'm still able to move around and enjoy it.

Here's one of my challenges...I'm already enjoying life, so to study I have to actually sacrifice my enjoyment, if that makes sense? I'm aware of the sacrifices needed to acheive anything, but what people want to do when they retire I already do it now, everyday.

UnixGuy

the_Grinch wrote: »

... But on the positive side I am looked at as the technical expert and it's pretty nice to garner a lot of respect so early on. ....

I think this point is important to me because I found that I want what I do to have tangible value

alias454

636-555-3226 wrote: »

lifelong gamer. always liked levelling up my characters, including grinding. that carries over into my real life, too, i guess. i can't stop studying or getting certs. maybe its an addiction, who knows. money's a good motivating factor, too, esp. for someone who wants to retire real early so i can enjoy life while i'm still able to move around and enjoy it.

That's an interesting insight. If I look at how I play games it definitely relates to the person I am. It is one of those obvious things that isn't obvious until someone points it out.

For me the cert is a means to an end, I value freedom to work on interesting things so that means moving up in status. A side effect is pay but ultimately that isn't the main driving force.

I also value the structure that pursuing a cert offers me, otherwise, I wander aimlessly learning about interesting things that maybe aren't all that marketable.

MitM

For me, the top motivator is $$$ to provide for my family. Also, to always have up-to-date skills in case of a layoff. I never want to be the IT guy that can't find work because he didn't stay sharp

jcundiff

MitM wrote: »

For me, the top motivator is $$$ to provide for my family. Also, to always have up-to-date skills in case of a layoff. I never want to be the IT guy that can't find work because he didn't stay sharp

sounds like me... plus with my son getting accepted into an early college academy( he will do his jr and sr years of high school on campus at the local college, and will have 60 hours of college when he graduates high school. With the program, he can still play football/run track, and partake in any other extra curricular activities at the high school) both my sons and myself will be in college come august. Plus I have a couple of expensive hobbies

but providing a specific level of quality of life for my family is the main motivator to me

EANx

To be the best technical manager I can be, including being able to walk the walk. I'm trying to be the manager I would have wanted to work for. Using an old boss as a template; the guy was a good manager and I remember one day walking by his office and he was happily making phones ring across Cisco routers. My organization is a lot bigger than his was then but my goal is to be that executive who is able to go down technical rabbit holes when he wants to.

GeekyChick

Have you thought about making a personal life mission statement, like what companies do? That way you would have a clear direction and goal. You can weed-out what would waste your time and what would get you to where you're going. If you don't know where you're going you can't get there.

DatabaseHead

Wife and I have a goal of retiring on a coastal community in a condo beach side. That drives almost everything.

PS @ OP good post.

SpetsRepair

The motivation is on and off sometimes, but what keeps me going and advancing is the drive to be better everyday. I've learned from certs, some from school, and a lot from working/troubleshooting on the job and working on projects, It all counts and helps you advance, the thing to not forget is there are a lot of people out there doing the same thing and if they are better, they took their study time seriously, and they lab as much as they can, and socialize with mid/upper management well they will advance. Never forget to keep moving and getting better, if you stay at one job and do the same thing everyday you are not advancing and will be stuck in that position, getting the same pay, and working the same hours with no advancement in your current position.

Always strive to be better, because people at your job, and other companies are doing just that, Why fall behind and not study?

NetworkNewb

Working towards a job that I find interesting and rewarding each day I come in. Hopefully will get there some day, or will die trying. Retirement actually sounds boring to me.

Fulcrum45

It's the need to know that drives me. Before I got into IT I had never thought of myself as very "technical". At the time I couldn't care less about computers but I think it's because it was never a subject I felt the need to devour. I started off as a sales person for a small MSP in order to get out of the retail rut I found myself in for 10+ years. I quickly realized that I didn't feel comfortable selling something I didn't fully understand. It took off from there. I went from sales person to tech in a matter of months and I haven't looked back. This doesn't apply to all things of course- my car could run on Voodoo for all I care so long as it gets me from A -> B.

PocketLumberjack

For me, it's my family that motivates me to continue to study and improve. I also have an addiction to paper certs, I just love credentials and acronym soup.

mzx380

MitM wrote: »

For me, the top motivator is $$$ to provide for my family. Also, to always have up-to-date skills in case of a layoff. I never want to be the IT guy that can't find work because he didn't stay sharp

Already went through that scenario in 2016 but was able to bounce back at the end of the year. Need to keep my skills sharp so I can provide at the highest level of income possible for my family.
Whenever I get tired of studying I just need to tell myself the following
Getting laid off..........................NEVER AGAIN

kurosaki00

mzx380 wrote: »

Whenever I get tired of studying I just need to tell myself the following
Getting laid off..........................NEVER AGAIN

^^THIS.

And I also want an R8 and pay my student loans before 40.

JoJoCal19

MitM wrote: »

For me, the top motivator is $$$ to provide for my family. Also, to always have up-to-date skills in case of a layoff. I never want to be the IT guy that can't find work because he didn't stay sharp

This is pretty much the core of my motivation. My continual drive to improve my knowledge and skill set is based both on past history of IT, and seeing my dad retire from the USN with no skill set directly relatable to the civilian world.

The other motivation is I want my kids to go to school and graduate from an in-state uni with no debt. I just want them to enter the world debt free (and hopefully I've taught them to stay that way).

JoJoCal19

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Wife and I have a goal of retiring on a coastal community in a condo beach side. That drives almost everything.

PS @ OP good post.

Haha my wife and I have the same goal

Kinet1c

I changed career to IT at the height of the downturn in the mid to late 00s, it was a tough slog. It took it's toll mentally (loss of confidence - got it back now though) and physically (put on a lot of weight but have dropped 20Kg of that off now). It also put a strain on my relationship with my wife, we had to sacrifice some stuff if money wasn't there and delay buying a house. So with all that in mind, my motivation is to never suffer through any of that again. Ever. Ever. Despite almost losing my job last month to cutbacks, I'm in a good place in my career (devops) and also at home.

DatabaseHead

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Haha my wife and I have the same goal

Sweet! Once our 14 year old and 8 year old are out of the house it's is go time. I have a 9 month old as well, but she is going to have to come along.

UnixGuy

very interesting answers!

One theme I noticed is debt and student loans. It's not the same in Australia, you don't really have to worry about tuition, it's much cheaper and you pay it off slowly once you start earning above a certain threshold. So this 'motivation' doesn't really exist here. But people seem to be crazy about owning houses here so they get in debt..who knows.

Keep those answers coming

People who want to retire on the beach...what's stopping you from living on the beach now?? I'd rather be on the beach now rather than wait until I'm 60-70

sillymcnasty

Not having to look at menu prices when I want steak.

In all honestly, watch the video for "Duke Dumont - I got U"
I went and recreated that video in real life basically. Minus a few specifics.
Just travel and seeing the world. Working hard and studying will help me get that. Hanging out with friends every week won't. I still make time for them, but not as often.

NOC-Ninja

Hardship. I was born in a 3rd world country. I grew up with no TV, bed, washing machine, phone and refrigerator in the house. I had to sleep just to forget that I am hungry. My bed was the cement. I used to watch to outside the neighbors house, at their window. My mom used to beg the electric man not to cut our house electricity since she cant pay less than a dollar of electric bill.
No foodstamps, section 8 and federal assistance.
When you went through that, you will never want to go back to that, again.

E Double U

I have always been a studious person. I am the type of guy that will pick up just about anything to read. That plus a few other things:

- I feel I should always make the most of my time
- I think I should take advantage of all opportunities available to me (an employer that covers cert expenses for example)
- I don't like complacency
- I like to challenge myself
- Advancement

Despite the fact that I've put in a lot of study time over the years, I don't feel like I'm making that big of a sacrifice. I don't turn down offers to hang out with people or miss any special occasions. I still read for leisure and get some tv time. When my wife and sons want my attention I make sure to give it to them. I just make sure that I use the time that I have to myself for something useful (in most cases) like exercise, watching a TED talk, reading, or just simply getting rest.

thomas_

The biggest thing that motivates me is knowing that the cert I'm going after is more than likely help me get a better job and/or a promotion. It might not happen immediately, but it definitely helps to stack the cards in my favor.

Dave88LX

UnixGuy wrote: »

Here's one of my challenges...I'm already enjoying life, so to study I have to actually sacrifice my enjoyment, if that makes sense? I'm aware of the sacrifices needed to acheive anything, but what people want to do when they retire I already do it now, everyday.

Kind of the same boat I am in. I'm mid-30s, married, 3 kids, full-time job, military reserves, drive 140 miles/day to work and back. By the end of the day I am slam exhausted.

I just switched from a Network Engineering position to a Network Security position, got a 50% pay bump, and only have a Security+. Expired CCNA, no degree. I've made it so far without any "credentials" that it feels like I don't need them, and struggle to focus on something.

I'd like to be motivated as well though I guess to be more "rounded" or something, I don't know.

Mike7

There are push and pull factors.

Look back at your current skill-sets and ask how you acquire them. Often, the skills were developed from dedication and hard work. It takes time and effort to build that capability. Practice makes perfect.

For me, the motivation is it makes me better. Whenever I learn something, the questions I ask is "what's in it for me?", "how does it improve my knowledge, expand my options and make me productive?", "how can I apply what I learn to solve a problem?"

Read up on "growth mindset". That should motivate.

Relearner

My main motivation is to be able to do things that very few can. That's why I'm studying to be a malware analyst after being an ethical hacker and see is not that difficult as I though :P (challenges come to meeee!)
Also I NEED to see how something works and because I left the college I feel like I missed some important lessons about hardware. But it's fine, now I study willingly some stuff I know would have hated in college.

The money is important too but I'm not in a hurry for it because I don't have kids yet. But yeah, the further I go with my main motivation the best salary I can get

G.O.A.T

honestly my biggest motivation are my kids, I try to set an example to my son especially. I got my work-ethic from my dad. It's easy to be lazy and my dad worked all through my child-hood he now is ready to retire to live in his holiday home and he always took care of us so I follow his example in the hope my son will continue this. I also want to accumulate enough money to give my kids the best start when they hit adult-hood.