Omar Zenhom grew up poor in an Egyptian immigrant family and argues that chasing a specific money target fails because it doesn't sustain motivation through hard times. Real drive comes from a larger mission to impact others, not from hitting a number.
I didn't grow up with money. My parents were immigrants from Egypt. My grandmother migrated from Egypt with 6 kids. She was a widow. She had nothing. So I know what it's like to grow up in an environment where you don't have much and you're hungry. But the problem is, is that when you chase a number, there's only so much you can do. You're going to get to a ceiling where the number is just not enough. What I found is that optimizing for a number, even a large number, does not produce the kind of sustained, obsessive creative effort that you'll need to actually get you there. Okay? The number alone is not going to help you be motivated and get up when times are tough. You need to build something larger than you. You have to have a mission that motivates you beyond paying the bills. When you have a mission, a big, big goal in terms of impacting other people, that is going to be there for you. And that doesn't get boring. So find that mission that means something to you.
