All progress is based upon a universal desire to live beyond one's income.
I think in the most general sense this is true - hunters and gatherers weren't satisfied with the meager "income" of food they got from an unstable supply, so they started farming to get more food... And teenagers want to make money so they can buy all the things their parents won't let them buy. But for individuals, if you really love what you do, you might do it anyway, even if you weren't being paid more to do it than something else.
If you didn't need any money, and no matter what job you held you could always have anything you wanted, do you think you'd work hard and make progress in your life even without the rewards of what money buys?
For my part, I say, hell no! I am a work-to-live person - although I feel like I SHOULD be working more than I do, that's more linked to my personal desires to get things done than to wanting to "get ahead" in the world. I don't really care if I'm ever the head of a corporation - I'd rather just get my work done and leave it behind at 5PM. And I'm OK with having lower pay because I don't want to exchange my life for my job. But if I could have whatever I wanted without doing so much at my job (like if I won the lottery or something) I would probably drop to half time at my job, enough to keep me occupied, and go do something else the rest of the day. (Probably eating more artery-clogging Chinese takeout.)
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I sense that about you... I see you getting it all figured out and joining the we-don't-work-at-all-we-we-just-live crew! We laugh because my friends here can all meet in the middle of the day for coffee because none of us have jobs. Of course, that gets boring- so the key is in becoming financially free so you can do what you want- whether that is work, or whether that is eat artery clogging Chinese food whenever you want! lol
I enjoy working but also fear that if I were to stop working in an engaging environment because I'd just get flabby, slow and boring. Well, more slow and boring anyway.
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