This topic came up when I was talking to the missus today. Our roommate had just came home today from her movie shooting, she’s in a huge work, working alongside major stars like Hugh Jackman, Jun Ji-hyun and Li Bing Bing. I was saying how I envied her finally working her way up in a very good spot, and that it was highly unlikely that I could reach that place with music, simply because there isn’t much potential in the music industry (in asia) anymore. In a seperate conversation today with Singaporean singer Faith Yang, I was telling her about what I felt the scene was like in China, and frankly, the same could be said for the entire south east asia golden triangle: ” The modern recording artiste is simply a product-endorsement poster-boy/girl disguised as a singer “.

Coming back to my point. I was motivated pretty early to pursue this passion when I was about 17 years old. Back then, being immature and dazzled by fame and fortune, the motivation was pretty much materialistic.

1: To make alot of money.
2: To be famous and recognized wherever I go.
3: To get laid, probably because of points 1 and 2.
4: To be getting all of the above by doing what I am passionate for and love.

Of course, after just a little over 10 years, I realize that most of the points (namely 2 and 3) aren’t important nor great at all. Point 1 can easily be achieved by other means, and frankly, music is not the easiest way to get rich. With these being said, point 4 is totally irrelevant.

While I am still in love with music, I’ve also discovered other passions and talents along the way. It’s not easy keeping a balance between music making and web design, but given the present state of both industries, it is easy to be leaning on the one that keeps the bread coming in. I am very thankful that although my main business now is creating beautiful websites for people and companies around the world, I still have some music credentials being laid down.

Which brings me to the question I suddenly find myself asking: What is motivating me now ?

Working to survive is never a motivation. Because you never ever need to work extra hard nor produce something revolutionary * to survive *. Working to survive usually equals mediocrity. But obviously, being mediocre is not going to cut it for me. I want to be really good. But why? Are my adolescent motivations still valid? Or is there something else now ?

After some pondering, which honestly didn’t take very long, I came up with the a couple of  reasons.

The simpler reason was to be able to have a comfortable life that would endure for generations. I am not a strong believer of being overly frugal, the idea of saving for the future. Sure, I put aside something for the future, but some people I know, and also the way I have been brought up was to be as frugal as possible so that when rainy days come, you would be prepared. The thing is, how can you be motivated if you’re making every day a rainy day, preparing for that rainy day that may come ? How can you ever be thankful for comfort and pleasures which you have never experienced because of your frugal way of living?

What I like to do, is to constantly remind myself of how good life is. That in turn motivates me to do my best to make sure that life will always be this good. That includes occasionally buying things that are on my wishlist. That includes eating well, and really generally, living well. It is only then, can I really appreciate what it is to be comfortable, to know what are the fruits of the labor. I think that makes more sense to me. Of course, very few people start out like this, and you’d probably have to work hard for awhile before you can get to this stage to enjoy, and then continue working hard to preserve or even elevate the status.

Material needs aside, the other motivation that I have to keep getting better at what I do and do it more, is that I want to leave a legacy in this world. Sure, I want to be rich and abundantly comfortable, living luxuriously. But imagine if you achieved all that by say… winning a 10 million dollar lottery or having a huge inheritance, and have been living off that until the day you die. You would leave, and no one would remember you. Sure, your friends and people who knew you would remember you…until they are gone. Then you would be wiped off the slate of the earth, clean. How meaningless is that! That scares me in some ways, to have a meaningless existence.

Many great people have probably realized this at some point in their lives, and went the extra mile to do something to leave an enduring legacy, perhaps by composing a timeless masterpiece or acts of love and sacrifice that people would remember throughout the annals of time. Of course, there are people who do this in the bad way, like serial killers and other criminals. I’m talking about people like Mozart, Einstein, Da Vinci, Michael Jackson, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, etc. These are people whose names would never, ever be forgotten. How, great, is that. They all did it in their own ways, composing music, inventing things, and even if you couldn’t do all that, you could still make a difference by giving your unconditional love to those who need it.

In closing, I’d like to remind you to live everyday purposefully, because the truth is that everybody can be great, only if you want to.