When I was young I sat down and wrote down what I wanted from life: I wrote that I wanted to work on non-routine problem solving, and that I would “retire” by working as a consultant, working only as much as I needed to keep my brain active. I worked for many years doing the sort of work I liked, initially for very little money. I told myself that if I focussed on excellence instead of on money, eventually the money would arrive as a side-effect of my excellence, not as the goal of it. Once I got headhunted by another company wanting my expertise, that money just happened as a side-effect.