Can't really help you on the motivation side.. I have mine but that doesn't mean it will work for you. I just enjoy myself.
About crafting though.. your understanding seems a bit messed up. ^^;
Not only you can, but you should do crafting leves right from the moment you got a crafting tool. They provide the mats for it (sometimes, you get them right awat, but some time you must travel and get them from the NPC who wants the stuff), and the reward you with more mats most of the time.
As for getting gold however, I have two advices.
First, do leves. As soon as you feel ready, try moving to a higher level camp to do the leves there. Big gil income.
Second, sell stuff. Shards and crystals are always in high demand. Even if you don't craft, have a look at crafting recipes to know who needs what, do some shopping and see what is worth what.
300 a shard is way above what it usually sells for and moko grass seems very very common. If you want to sell fire shards, stick around smiths and offer them at 100g a piece, they should vanish very fast. If you really want to sell shards though, go for wind shards. Everyone loves wind shards.
About crafting though.. your understanding seems a bit messed up. ^^;
Not only you can, but you should do crafting leves right from the moment you got a crafting tool. They provide the mats for it (sometimes, you get them right awat, but some time you must travel and get them from the NPC who wants the stuff), and the reward you with more mats most of the time.
As for getting gold however, I have two advices.
First, do leves. As soon as you feel ready, try moving to a higher level camp to do the leves there. Big gil income.
Second, sell stuff. Shards and crystals are always in high demand. Even if you don't craft, have a look at crafting recipes to know who needs what, do some shopping and see what is worth what.
300 a shard is way above what it usually sells for and moko grass seems very very common. If you want to sell fire shards, stick around smiths and offer them at 100g a piece, they should vanish very fast. If you really want to sell shards though, go for wind shards. Everyone loves wind shards.