What motivates us?

United States
January 13, 2007 2:51pm CST
I've been evaluating my actions lately and found that I'm most motivated by the little things that do not matter but not motivated by the bigger rewards. It seems like a lot of other people are like that too. Are we just wired for wanting the smaller but instant rewards more? For example, I would spend hours working on and advertising my website just for a few extra clicks on my ads per day. When I earn the few extra cents, I actually get excited. Another example: I would spend hours completing homework so I get credit but find it very difficult to study for a big test that's coming up in a few days. Since homework directly to points, those few points are my motivation. However, tests lead to much bigger points, but I do not feel any motivation at all (unless the test is less than a day away)
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