It’s helpful for our daily motivation to keep in mind why we do the work we do.  Maybe it’s to feed our families or to change the world or to be filthy rich.  No matter what the reasons are, keeping the reasons we go in to work everyday front of mind helps us do a better job and makes us happier on a day-to-day basis.

Here are my three reasons for working on Killer Aces.  (These were always floating around somewhere in my mind — maybe not quite articulated, but they were in there somewhere — and reading Philip’s post Dream Job or Day Job? this week pushed me to write them down.)

1. Financial independence.

This is the greed part of it.  I want to be rich not for wealth’s sake, but to have the freedom to do what I want.  One of my success visions of “financial freedom” is being able to book a flight to the other side of the world on a whim, and not having to worry about cost or scheduling.

2. Ownership of work.

This is the ego part of it. I was tired of doing work that benefited someone else.  I wanted to own my work.

3. Contribute to humankind / human history.

This is the fulfilling part.  Some ego plays into this too.

I want to do work that matters.  I want to make people’s lives better and leave a mark on human history.

Wise Bread’s book is #1 under Budgeting and #2 in Personal Finance at Amazon.  Wow.  

Pretty amazing job by Will to shepard the book from conception to launch.  And in less than 10 months! 

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I contributed a couple of guest posts to help the launch cause.

55 Ways to Get More Energy (Zen Habits)

1. Change your socks for refreshment.

It’s an amazing trick. Bring a change of socks to work, and change your socks midway through the day (say, after lunch). You’ll be amazed at how much fresher you’ll feel. This trick is especially handy on days with lots of walking — like during a hike or family outing to the amusement park.

7 Benefits of Decluttering (Unclutterer) – This is what I want.  It’s a war that I’m losing.