Hi,
One of my brothers has only so-so motivation, actually he seems profoundly lazy not profoundly gifted. Still he got great grades all through school and college. He was not accelerated.
I think my parents wished he'd do more with his mind, go further in school, change the world even just a little bit, etc. One comment of his at the idea of a family trip was, "why would I want to go to Rome, I've been there". My mother nagged him a lot along the way and he still resents that. But I'm not sure he would have mailed in college applications etc, without her being on him about it. He had no sports or extracurricular activities, and no girlfriend until college. He never brought friends home from school (and no Asperger's etc, he's normally socially able). He just preferred reading or Star Trek to any other possibilities. College was probably good for him in that he had to take charge, and by then he was mature enough to.
He's a computer programmer now, his company gives him choice in projects, he has it so his hours start at noon (gets up about 11), telecommutes some, etc. As far as I can tell he makes way too much money, he has a house full of geeky toys and is happily married. He seems to spend a lot of time lying around petting his cats. He seems quite happy and probably has a lot lower blood pressure than some other family members.
I'm sure my mom is just as frustrated with him as she ever was. I don't know how successful one can be at motivation with someone who's intrinsically low on drive, as my brother was from very early on, he was even an easy baby. But either on their own, or maybe due to exhausting and relationship-ruining pestering, things sometimes turn out really well anyways.
Polly
