Are people motivated to achieve by personal satisfaction rather than by money or fame?

As human beings, our basic instinct in life is often to fight for survival. Till this day the pursuit of wealth remains as one of the greatest contributing factors to ensure ones survival. I feel that when people are given an incentive of fame or fortune this provides them with a reason to work as they will make money.

For example, Communism reigned in the USSR and China. This political system promoted achievement for personal satisfaction and the good of mankind, where all workers earned equal amounts regardless of the quality of work. Although many Chinese and Russian workers felt personal satisfaction and were rewarded with badges of honor, they often felt no incentive to work even harder as there was no financial gain. It is unrealistic and incredibly idealistic to believe that, when so many people are in poverty, an economy can flourish when people are motivated to achieve merely through fulfillment.

WEALTH IN THE USA

Wealth

Wealth in America

With History as our teacher, it presents us with the failure of communism and the thriving of capitalism to confirm to you that people are motivated to achieve by money.

Another possible reason to why people are more driven to achieve success with a profit motivation is because personal satisfaction is an abstract concept whilst money is materialistic and is tangible. We all define success differently in our own terms, either according to one's wealth, background, achievements or status in the hierarchy. But money is a common definition of the word success as it can reflect on our achievement, personal satisfaction, status in the hierarchy..etc. As we all are know that Bill Gates is the wealthiest man on earth. Does his immense wealth not reflect on his personal satisfaction? Does his immense wealth not represent his contentment in life? I can confidently say that Bill Gates must...