Money does not motivate us to work hard

Money does not motivate people to work hard, the mind does. If money was a motivator, then most women would be prostitutes because prostitution is probably the fastest way to make money.

Everyday, people are busy doing several things that are not lucrative such as watching TV, sleeping, playing, listening to the radio reading newspapers, eating and so on and so forth.

Most of our daily activities are not lucrative: for example, most people usually work about 8 hours a day or so and for the 16 hours left, they usually do non-lucrative activities. It seems like we find more joy and peace doing those non-lucrative activities.

If I hire an assistant and I pay her 20 dollars a month, she would not be motivated to work seriously and if I pay her 2 million dollars a month, she might resign and set up her own business. So, money does not motivate much. If I pay her average salary, there’s no guarantee that she will work seriously for me.

Some volunteers were able to accomplish much more than those who are paid to do their job. Martin Luther King ,Jr was not paid to fight against racism in the USA but he was fully motivated to do what he felt right to do. Mahatma Gandhi did not gain any financial reward to fight for the independence of India, however he was entirely committed to accomplish such a great task.

I admit that everything we get or receive might have a monetary value but money itself as such does not motivate us to work hard.

The only source of motivation is our mind: I have seen a number of people who quit their job in spite of their high salary and other people who stay in their job despite of low salary. People with high salary resign because they find higher salary somewhere else or better opportunities. Others with low salary might respect their job because they might think that some of their peers are paid much less.

However, we can also find the following cases: some people with a good salary might be serious at work and are faithful to their boss, whereas others with poor salary might resign in the hope of finding better jobs somewhere else.

All this does not have anything to do with money, it is our mind who tells us what to do. Money does not speak, it does never move by itself, it does not smell good and it does not look smart either. It only has a value when we use it with our mind.

I believe there are hundreds or even thousand of ways to motivate workers without spending a fortune. People need things much more important than money such as love, respect, dignity and health to help them work, grow and find true happiness.