Can you be successful simply for the money?

Maybe this is just me, but I would love to get others' views on this.  I hear so many people in the sales industry say "you can make a lot of money".  I think this is how they recruit others and use it as a motivator, but can the money be your driving force, can it keep you motivated and driven?

Now for me, I can't "fake it", I simply don't have the ability.  Maybe it's a character flaw.  I firmly believe this is why I was the world's worst waitress.  I did not possess the ability to smile while thinking in my head "you're a jacka**" it just came right out on my face.  This is probably why the military made so much sense to me, I just fit in with my raw bluntness.  I don’t seem to have the ability to hide my feelings and now that I’m 40 I don’t think it’s something I can mature out of.  This also means that I’m a terrible liar so I just don’t even try, that has to be the bright side, right?

I firmly believe if you are in sales for the money you will never love your job.  And I believe to be successful in sales you have to LOVE your job.  You have to love your mission and your company.  There has to be a level of caring about the people you work with both within your company and those you connect with on the outside.  I also believe you have to trust in what you can provide to others.  

Compensation plans are a great reward and I love being paid based on my performance.  Now if you only are driven by the money you will find yourself incredibly frustrated as compensation comes and goes and there has to be more to your drive.  I believe you have to love to compete with yourself, I believe you have to believe in what you are selling.  When I close a deal I’m so excited because of all it means.  It means I did my job and my work ethic is one of the most important things to me, it means I found opportunities for other military spouses and veterans, it means I’ve helped my company grow, and it means the client I worked with just got a great solution and are about to be blown away by the team members they are about to integrate into their team culture.  It almost feels like what I can only assume a matchmaker would feel like when a match they made gets married.  Elated!

Then I allow myself 5 minutes of celebration, why?  Because for every win I know how many military spouses and veterans are waiting.  Waiting for that role that fits their lives and I was in their shoes not too long ago.  I can’t slow down and I can’t coast by with one win.  They need me and that’s what drives me.  

So I ask again.  Can money be the only driving force for a sales team to succeed?  I still say no but I’m interested to hear your thoughts.