[rgrieselhuber]

It didn't come across to me as a cheap shot - I think it's literally true. Stuff that would have been extremely discouraging to me 5-10 years ago simply bounces right off me now. Based on this, I know that stuff I worry about right now isn't going to seem like a big deal as I get older. The best technique I know for making this process work is to continually do new things and challenge myself. Some of it may be painful at the time, but once you've come through it, you'll be surprised at the confidence you gain.

The only thing I know of that works against this process is sliding back into the "safe" realm in order to avoid having to deal with the problem at hand. This becomes a repeating pattern and you end up being much less capable of achieving challenging things.

It sounds to me like the problem is less one of motivation and more of vision. What is it exactly that you want to do? If you need to answer that question, I recommend changing contexts dramatically. Go travel for awhile, try moving to a new town, etc. Once you know what you want, little things like money and wondering how you're going to survive matter surprisingly less than you think they would.