I love to hear your opinions! Last week I heard from some of you regarding my posts about $$$$. Most of what I heard went something like this: “So, you’re really anti-money, huh?”

No, I am NOT anti-money. I’m an entrepreneur, and a driven individual. And, while I probably lean toward financially conservative, I too enjoy the spoils of success. I think we all (OK, this doesn’t include Gandhi) like to have not just a sense of accomplishment, but the nice things … the indulgences, material stuff, etc., … BUT, my point was, the $$$ should not be your sole, or even primary, motivator for selecting or staying with a job or career. If there is no love, no passion, no engagement; you’re selling yourself short and no amount of money will ever “compensate”.

Like I and countless others have said, there is a reason “Money can’t buy you happiness” has reached cliché status. Money is not your ticket to a life of happiness, nor are the things that cash will buy you. Just as if my motivation for working out and eating nutritious foods were simply to reach a certain weight by my upcoming class reunion or some other temporal goal, my propensity for success and sustainability in that endeavor is much more limited than if my incentive is rooted in a joy for the activity or a love for the sense of accomplishment and confidence that comes from challenging myself physically and feeling strong, healthy and well for the long-term and for my family.

Something bigger than a size on a dress tag is required to push through the tough walls or hard miles in a workout, and something more profound than a figure on a W-2 or a bank account balance is going to be needed to overcome the hassles and adversities that will no doubt come your way from time to time in life.

I’ll say it again: Money is the icing. I love icing, don’t get me wrong. But icing doesn’t make the whole cake. Don’t let it be your sole purpose — you’ll undoubtedly be disappointed.