06 January 2008

Abu Dhabi/Fujairah: What motivates you? Is it love, family, wealth, work or none of the above? What keeps us energised and keen to move on to the next day?

To find out Gulf News asked people on the streets about their take on what inspires, stimulates, induces and provokes them to get out of the bed and make them work.

Mounira Safar, an Emirati and an administrative manager at the Ministry of Education, feels love, family, wealth and work are all inter-related and equally important. But if Mounira had to choose one over the other, she would select family.

"If I am successful as a wife and a mother, I will be successful in creating happiness for those around me, and in return, myself.

"Through my family I gain support, love and success. Due to my family support, I am successful at my work, which I enjoy and love very much."

Mounira said money is the last thing she thinks about, because it is something that "comes and goes". She believes the third-most important motivation for a person is successful communication skills and social intelligence.

"Through knowing people and handling different situations, you learn more, that on its own is motivation for a person."

School principal, Hayam Mohammad Amer, an Emirati, said love motivates her to achieve everything in life.

"Through loving my family, job and country, I am motivated to perform well at home as a mother and wife, and in my work as a principal. Without love, one cannot give. Love creates optimism and is the foundation for anything. For instance, if I do not love my job I will not be able to perform properly. If I do not love being a mother, I wouldn't have been one. Love also offers you confidence and makes you give without expecting a return. I believe love is the most important thing in life and makes me who I am today."

Saif Nail, Egyptian, a public relations manager, said work is the most motivating factor for him.

"Work makes a person ambitious. Without work I cannot support my family, I cannot excel, I cannot provide basic necessities for my wife and children," said Nail.

He said the second motivating factor for him is his family.

"I look forward to going home. I mostly work to provide the best for my children. Love is for newly married couples or those in a relationship. In marriage, love is not as important as closeness.

"Wealth is the last thing I would think of, because money is a means not a way, for me. I measure my success when I find my children successful."

Murthy Kannan, a chef from India, said: "My parents motivate me. They invested in making me who I am today and I owe it to them to be good at what I do. I think about them every time, I want to prove to them that I am the best and a worthy son. They definitely motivate me to work harder."

Naveen Kumar, an Indian hotelier, said wealth is the most motivating factor for him.

"Many things in life depend on wealth, and one must admit wealth does make standard of living easier for you in every way.

"If you are sick one day and have no one around you, with enough money you will get all the medical assistance you need. Wealth also motivates a person to work harder, it gives one a sort of pleasure to excel and receive a reward in return," he said.

Anwar Kabbani, 30, a business development manager from Lebanon, said: "I suppose I'm motivated by the need to have a high self-esteem. So I want to do well in my job and work in a satisfying environment.

"I think if one has a positive attitude he can create a solid base for his work and at home, and after that anything else is a bonus."

Ashraf Elia Habib, 30, an Egyptian counter agent, said: "My daughter is the prime motivation for everything I do, she's my whole life. All my hard work and ambitions in life are driven by a motivation to make her life as good as possible.

"Gaining wealth is not in itself a motivation in my life, I just want to earn more money to make sure she can go to the best schools and have a comfortable life."

Ahmad Damireya, 26, a sales advisor from Syria, believes that every new day is a motivation enough for him.

"I look at it as another chance to do something positive in my life. Whether it's work, or family, as long as there is still hope for me to improve my life then that's enough of a motivation for me.

"If wealth comes my way then I will be happy with that, but the most important things in my life are my family and my career."

T.N. Sharma, 33, a security guard from Nepal, said: "My biggest motivation is to improve myself and gain more knowledge.

"When I go back to my home country I want to be able to achieve something and become somebody important. "That's way I always want to meet new and intelligent people to learn from them because gaining knowledge is not an easy thing."

By Staff Reporter

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