In Daniel Pink’s book Drive, he argues that once our basic financial needs are met, people are motivated by three things in the workplace: mastery, autonomy, and purpose. What if, however, these motivators are best satisfied outside the workplace—e.g., mastery of hobbies, autonomy over free time, and purpose in relationships?
There is a lot of value in having an income that is just that, an income. In post-industrial America, we demand a lot of our jobs and our jobs demand a lot of us.
The status quo seems to be: invest more time to make more money. When the opportunity cost of more time at work, however, is doing what you actually enjoy outside of work (and you’ve already achieved a comfortable quality of life), then maybe the criterion for advancing your career should be a little different: invest less time to make the same amount of money.
Source: Daniel Pink, Drive.