I'm sorry about this, I only now realized how many people responded to this post. I kind of which that Hacker News had notifications so you would know that I am replying to you. At this point replying seems like sort of a lost cause but if you do happen to get this I thought this question was important enough to warrant answering.

That level of dedication came to me because I was not very disciplined when I was younger and hadn't developed any marketable skills. I grew up poor and I didn't want her to grow up poor. So I threw myself into something I had an aptitude for and I started working my ass off at getting better at it. Though, one could say that any effort is considerably more than I had put in before.

I really want what is best for my daughter. I have to give her a better life. So because it has become so important, that's why I work so hard. She interferes sometimes, but I'm not going to let that stop me from giving her a better life.