Ask HN: Anyone else motivated by the stick not the carrot?

I've found that the stick only works when starting from a lowly place to get up to speed. Envy, resentment, anger etc. are very draining and unstable sources of motivation and it's hard to build a long-term strategy upon them. At some point genuine interest should take over as your motivation so you don't burn yourself out.

> I got my dream job by reading the twitter messages and slack messages of my critics.

Sounds like an interesting story

Once you realize that you'll never get the carrot because it's being dangled out of reach, then then the stick is all that's left. This is the case for me.

Be your own biggest critic? Leans into the perfectionist mindset.