What I am passionate about doing, the element of time, and being very focused on where I put my energy.

If I’m unhappy I change things, otherwise, why bother? I’m usually not motivated by money. A long time ago I learned to keep my bills low, so as long as I have enough, I’m happy. However, for the past two years, I’ve had two really bad jobs and I was willing to take a pay cut to get out of them. But the last job laid me off and now I’m on unemployment. So that took care of that as I try to find another job. Talk about a paycut. From $55K to $20K. But I’m happier, much happier. Now if I could only find a job that pays $35-40K, that will be enough.

Money has certainly motivated me to change. I ran out of it! When you work for yourself you have nobody but yourself to direct your life. So, I moved to a better place and began to think about doing what I know how to do.. teach. I found new friends to help me and am connecting with so many people on facebook that I haven’t heard from in years. It’s really interesting.

I hate change!  The only change that I like is quarters.  The fear ofm the unknown kept me stuck for a long time.  Then when the kids moved out and my husband had to travel for amost a year things changed. After my 3rd night of eating ice cream in my underwear asking myself "what am I supposed to do?"   I am good at taking care of people.I just had no idea how to do it for me! 

As I took the garbage out that night, sneaking by my chocolate lab who’s another story. Outside I heard "CLICK" he jumped up on the door and locked me OUT!  In my underwear at 11:30 at night, thats when the change happened. I wasn’t going  over to my neighbors to say my dog just outsmarted me, so I climbed on a table, 2 chairs and a recycle bin and made it to the 2nd story, allowing me to climb through a window.

A cop even drove by, he didn’t see me thank God.  Somehow I learned there aren’t that many big deals in life.

A few months later, while visiting my doctor I heard the wrong "cancer" and you know what?  Change allowed me to find a peace I never knew was missing and no disease can take it. It must be GIVEN by me and that’s not happening! Thanks Bobbie R  I still love quarters!

I think the state of our economy is a reflection of what we as individuals and a nation have held dear and apparently we were way off course.  I believe, we are being presented with a golden opportunity to find what is truly useful and purposeful in our lives as opposed to what many of us have previously "believed" to be useful and purposeful in our lives. Only to find more and more of us unhappy and lost.   I hope we, as a individuals, as well as our government will take this opportunity that our current economy presents to us all, to organize our priorities more inline with our spirits and true nature of goodness and giving.  For me, the changes I have made have truly been life changing and beneficial.

Many years ago I told my mother that I hated change, to which my mother simply said "Get used to it… Life IS Change - the two words are synomous".  Boy, was she right. 

What motivates me to make a change myself?  Quality of Life.  I love having money as much as the next person (or I would if I had it ), but it seems when making decisions, quality of life comes out ahead of money every time.  I’ve even switched jobs that offered less money in favor of a better environment or a greater challenge.

On the question of diets, smoking or other vices, I agree with you that not enough money was at stake in the NBER study.  Frankly, I don’t know how much money it would take for me to shift gears, but I’ve always felt that those pursuing change while employing external motivators are less likely to succeed than those who make their choices for personal reasons.  I’ve always said that YOU have to make the decision that quality of life is more important than your vice.  You can’t do it for someone else, you can’t do it for your family or a job.  If you’re making a personal change, you have to do it for yourself.  

Quitting smoking was the most difficult thing I’d ever done, but I was in my early 30s and found myself out of breath walking up stairs.  Once I decided that I had to make a change to improve (and perhaps save) my life, I did it cold turkey.  I’m not saying I was pleasant to live with during that period, but I did it - 16 years ago.   

Money is fleeting.  Quality of life is all we have.  Life is short and if we’re not actively in the "pursuit of happiness" as we travel through life then what the heck are we waiting for?

I’ve made a bunch of changes, some willingly, some thrust upon me. I moved from my family home to a small condo; I made a commitment to weight loss and better health; I retired from my administrative job - all changes that seemed daunting and scary at first. But what I learned from all this change is that life really IS what you make of it. For better or worse, we change every second, and with every breath, so embracing the challenges and toughing out the scary stuff is really worth it in the long run. As Mom used to say: Let it be a challenge to you. Thanks, Mom - right as usual!