Money motivation gets a bad wrap. Some believe that money-motivated people are selfish, greedy, or even evil. Others think getting wealthy requires sacrificing your personal life or working long, intense hours. They are all wrong. 

Here’s why money motivation is great for achieving success in sales and in life. 

1. It’s not about the money: it’s about what you do with it

Money motivation inherently requires that you have a strong reason for wanting to make a lot of money in the first place. 

If you don’t have a strong, clear “why” beneath your earnings goals, it will feel empty and disappointing even after you achieve your target. 

Here’s a great example: 

Before we purchased our dream home, I visualized my wife and our entire family in a gorgeous backyard with the sun shining. My wife was gardening (which she loves to do) and she looked so peaceful and happy. 

Even though we couldn’t “afford” the house I visualized, I felt emotionally connected to that vision. That night I called her and told her to up our budget from 1M to 1.6M, and we would find a way to make it work. 

That year I finished #1 at Salesforce globally and made a seven figure W2 for the first time in my career. We bought our dream house for 1.8M shortly thereafter. 

That’s the power of money motivation – it’s not about the money itself. It’s about what you plan to do with it. 

If you know exactly what you intend to use the money for, you will work with passion, drive, and energy. You can weather the storms that come with sales, and stay consistent with your attitude, activity, and process which lead to the very success you desire. 

2. Why Not Me?

Since I was young, I always had a fascination with big homes in nice neighborhoods. I would look at the houses and ask myself “What do these people do for a living?”

My mom was always a very hard worker, and this work ethic was instilled in me from a young age. She worked her way up from a nurse to Professor at UCLA, and financially supported both me and my brother on her own.  My parents were divorced, and my mom didn’t receive child support from my father who struggled financially. 

I always promised myself that I would provide for my family in a way that my own father could not. When I finished college, I went into sales because I wanted to have a job where I got paid based on my performance. 

I knew that I had the drive, discipline, and ability to achieve at the highest possible level in sales, and that’s what drove me. 

At Salesforce I saw top earners making 7 figures, and I thought to myself “why not me?” If they can do it, I can do it too! 

You see, money motivation is not about just “making the money”. It’s about pursuing your full potential and showing up as a person worthy and capable of making big money. 

Happiness is the joy I feel in the pursuit of my full potential

I know that true joy and fulfillment occurs when I’m challenging myself and growing, and striving to achieve big dreams forces me to always continue growing. 

Every year we visit San Diego and stay in beautiful neighborhoods on the beach as inspiration for what’s possible in life. 

For me, money motivation is not about collecting things. It’s about collecting experiences with those I love. 

We already have luxury vacations planned in Hawaii and Yellowstone this year, and seeing the smiles on the faces of my family during our time together makes it all worth it. 

In this week’s video, I share how to find your why and use money motivation to perform to your full potential.