I am asking this because I simply have none; and it makes me unmotivated in pretty much everything I do. 

Currently I am studying engineering at one of the best universities in Sweden; but I don't know why I am doing it. Simply because it is sort of expected from me I guess. The whole studying part is not terribly hard at all; it is actually weird because it is just that little bit too hard for me to manage everything without studying, but easy enough for me to find it extremely boring and a waste of time to actually study. The point of motivation comes in here. I lack it, and therefore I am not motivated to study. I figure that if I had a bit more motivation I would probably do loads better since I would find myself studying towards a goal.

I've asked a few friends at Uni why they are studying and what their goals are with that. Some are just in it plainly for the money in the end and get motivated by that. Others have clear motivations such as becoming a nuclear physicists, help countries in need, and a lot of more things. Well; I don't.

Personally I am looking into switching to an specialisation that is more geared towards product design as a start, since I find that more interesting overall. But moreover I have pretty much decided to take a break from Uni either this fall or next spring and go somewhere. Right now it is a tossup between some eco-village in Bolivia that one of my friends might go to, or working as a volunteer in Africa and teach kids maths, English, and build houses. 

So 3dAC; what motivates you in life? Do you have a goal?

Well, that´s a good question...

Currently i´m a trainee as wholesale clerk, but done with it next year. My motivation in bad times or motivation in general is that in few years  i´ll earn enough money and have a very good job. After that traineeship i´m planning to study economics and do my bachelor/ Master of business adminstration. It would be a very good experience to work in a different country than germany...like GB,USA or Sweden. I heard that Sweden have very beautiful girls muaha^^ no iam kidding. After that all i would think about family/marriage and stuff like that.
So basically my major motivation is money and having a very job at Daimler or sth. 


Cheers.

What motivates me in life?
Generally speaking, I find it easier to work on things I enjoy and things that I find interesting. Having said that we can't all sit round eating noodles and masturbating all day, so at some point you have to decide to be proactive and reach for lofty yet attainable goals.  As you mentioned there is a trade-off between something that is easy enough to perform whilst still providing a challenge to retain your interest. The reality is it's difficult to know what you should do until you've been doing it for a while.

 As for my back story in career choices; I chose my undergraduate degree based on what I enjoyed at school, masters based on what I enjoyed from my undergrad etc until I find myself towards the end of PhD looking a lot like a fish biologist. But I know a lot of people who wanted to get out of the academic scene as fast a possible and ply their skills or training working in all manner of stuff, from teaching English in far flung places, to working the 9-5 on the promise that they can leave their boring job at the end of the day and not think about it until tomorrow morning. It all depends on what you enjoy in terms of topic, but also in terms of the kind of place you want to work and the pay, naturally.

My advice, if you've got a good thing going at uni, try and stick it out. There is always time to change specialisation after finishing the year, or graduating. If there is something you enjoy principally, and you can feasibly get into it then give it a go. Especially if it will help you stay motivated.

I went to a getting published workshop at my uni a few months back and got chatting about how to stay motivated when writing manuscripts, there were seasoned professors, with full on beards, the works! They were complaining about feeling unmotivated and describing techniques to trick their brain into concentrating for longer. The reality is if work was always fun and interesting, it wouldn't be work. So try and find something you enjoy and learn the habits of staying motivated while you can, then work just as hard at your hobbies. (I often get up too early or drive too far in the name of hobbies and interests).

Just realised that I've written a wall of text instead of doing work stuff so maybe you should ignore my advice

Cheers, Murkey.

Jesus Christ and the "agape" love he shares with us that i can spread to others is all i need

Puh...heavy stuff there Age, heavy stuff.

I am going to be 27 years old in about 7 weeks and I ask myself this very question almost every day since I finished my "Civil-Service" (instead of army; working in a hospital or the like) almost 6.5 years ago and especially since my gf broke up with me about 1 year ago. 

When I was still in 12th grade I came to know this beautiful girl and it quickly went into a serious relationship. When I graduated and life was about to become a bit more serious plans were thought about, future was depicted in its brightest colors. 
Wow, I actually could spend the rest of my life with this person! But slow down Sally, you are just 19.5 years old. Enjoy your youth and just life in the moment once in a while. Stop making plans for everything! In 3 months you'll start your service and then you can think about your future, together! 

After the 9 month service I started Math+Physics (to be a teacher) on one of, back in the days, Germany's first "Elite Universities".
This was the first time in my life where I just couldn't do what I wanted even though I really wanted. My whole educational experience until then was a mildly entertaining, fun and sometimes even interesting ride on clouds. But yeah, it changed. I was working and learning as hard as never before in my life and still it just wasn't enough. After a year I dropped Uni and spent half a year working as a tutor with several kids, selling vegetables on the market and helping my sister take care of her new born child as best as I could.
I knew at least some things: I like mathematics, physics and learning things. I like helping others. I like teaching kids basic principles about the world that they can use to form their own live.

So, as the half year was passing by I still had the strong feeling that I wanted to be a teacher so I decided to move on, and go on a so called "University of education" in a city about 150 km away from home. This would at least allow me to be a teacher for kids ages 10/11 to 16/17. 
And so I began my studies, highly motivated with a clear goal in my mind. But very soon (2nd semester) I realized there was a lot of BS I have to accept in these courses and the feeling Age described was very present. Too easy to feel the need to do the slightest bit of work but too hard/much to just let it roll. My weekdays were without my girl so I had to find cheap and fun alternatives for spending my evenings. PC gaming always was a big hobby of me so I picked it up a bit more serious again. That means even less time spent for studies.

Add some very disappointing situations with professors about tutor job offers, some good ol' weed, a very painful break up by/with my then 8 years gf, a conscious and deliberate turn away from faith, a pretty strong political view about the system we are living in, several rather small health issues that bugger me for my whole life and there you have me now, still asking me this very same question. 

I mean oc when I was younger, when we were together, when I still was a believer, I had dreams about my life, whishes, hopes. But as I know of today, they were all linked to a life with her or some sparky place in heaven not really my inner hopes. 

Who am I? What do I want? Where is my life going towards to? I still don't know tbh but again I know some things:

- I am a lazy and depressed fuck. 
- I help people around me whenever I can (or at least not benefit from others misery)
- I have a lifetime to do what I want to do!

In all seriousness, I would love to have such a simplistic view of the world that something like earning a lot of money would be enough to actually motivate me. 

Right now, my motivation is pussy! That is why I actually go out now instead of going to bed or working on my several papers I need to write.

"I'll tell you why, it's lack of pussy that fucks countries up, lack of pussy is the root fucking cause of all global instability."

Guess who...

In general I go by the reasoning that if I don't enjoy something, there better be a good reason that I'm still doing it. I'm fortunate enough to really enjoy electrical engineering and have a good job lined up down in London for September but I treat my career as a means to living a good lifestyle and being able to do other things that I enjoy while not working.

I'm currently make the most out of my last few months of University (read: causing as much trouble as possible), juggling uni work, paid work and being involved with all the social/society stuff that makes life interesting (and probably drinking too much!). It's very very crazy busy but that's how I like things, I get very bored if I'm not doing something all the time.

More generally, it is entirely up to you with what you do with your life and only you can change your internal mental state to progress onto better things. I think deciding to do something, difficult, different or just interesting, in your head (of your own will) then going and doing it is the most satisfying thing in the world. Whether it being washing the dishes or moving to a different country.

I would also say that life is more generally about balance, you need to do less interesting things/hard work/have a job so that you can enjoy other things. The contrast and variety between different things needs to be there otherwise your life just blurs into a constant of something (good or bad).

Volunteering is great, I spent a really enjoyable week helping to replace track and sleepers on a steam railway where we were essentially free manual labourers. Lots of heavy lifting and shovelling but at the end of the week we went all the way up the line in a diesel engine (to do more work) but that made it worth it. Ultimately it's not something I would want to do all the time but an interesting and different way to spend a week.

I also find it very easy to not worry about things. If there is a problem I just think it through thoroughly and if I can't do anything to fix it, I can generally just accept that or get help from someone. Busy is fine, stressed because you don't have time to think/plan everything is not. However a positive can-do attitude will work magic for just about everything

Very positive and constructive post, blip. Thanks!

Had an interesting evening. Listening to some good music, talking to a good friend of mine about a lot of stuff that kinda touches this subject here, and a very cool talk with a stranger, a fellow student, that had the very same tone.

Too drunk to get much out of these talks right now but it just showed me again that everyone thinks about his life, is sometimes happy, sometimes troubled, has problems with this but loves doing that. Ups and downs. Back and forth.

My goal in life is to find a job that will satisfy me as a person, the kind of job that is hard but pays off, im not the kind of guy who's programmed after hes parents robotic plannes "he will go to school, study, get good grades, and then work at some high-tech company and get a lot of money, NO. and it might sound very childish where you live, but im aiming for long term military service...like a career...and in my country unfortunately it is very relevant and a good source of money...not a lot of people are doing this though because its just physically hard, imagine yourself at 28-30 marching a 50km march in a desert..and i can understand them because u can get a heck of a lot more money if you actually study and find a good job, but im just not made that way, i cannot sit the whole day in front of papers, i need to move and interact with people...going to start of early in the paratroopers in this august, them will probably try to rank up and become an officer, and from there my stay is secure... and if that wont turn out as i planned, well i guess im just going to keep working and studying as im doing now...6to12 but shitty pay..

Military service is dangerous of course, life threatening actually, but for me i think its worth it...

and about women and family, i was never really good with girls, kinda shy and nervous..i guess my time will come in my 30's somewhere where ill find a women that fits me and completes me but thats just a guess...maybe it'll be tomorrow u never know..

also those political thoughts and minds who sometimes tell me not to go where i want to go because it is wrong and i should never pick up a weapon and enlist, and also my mom telling me my life worth's more than our nation's ...i dont believe that. what about those who fought for it 60 years ago? who because of them i can actually live my life safely and free? time to give back. time to matter.

im not a yank but there was a British spitfire pilot back in WWII who asked an american pilot "Are all yank's so anxious to come here and die?" and the american reply'd "Im not anxious to die, sir. im anxious to matter."

Where are you studying Age?

Also fuck money get bitches.