I don't think anyone can give you tips on motivation for a job you don't like. I spent several years taking jobs with tasks I didn't like to train myself to do them anyway, whether I liked them or not. I don't think that has to do with parent's teaching, is a personal thing with what you like/don't like. I'm still mind boggled with a woman I worked with in the 1970's who loved pure data entry (mostly long numbers) 8+ hours a day.

If you don't want to go to school or compete for jobs you like/want, I think you either have to look at your other interests and change fields or put up with the jobs you have been taking and spend time with your family, which you appear to enjoy, but without spending as much money to have "fun".

I understand about the child support (my husband had alimony and child support for the first 11 years of our marriage); if I were you, I would start thinking of it as a pay raise in X years (when it's no longer payable), kind of like a cost-of-living increase and come up with a plan for what I'd do with that "extra" money at that time (instead of just rolling it into expenses/normal bills). I paid my therapist $800+ out-of-pocket each month for nearly 10 years and was thrilled with my plans for when we terminated. Use the discipline of paying the child support faithfully for your own mental/emotional support and training.