Aragorn was motivated by the possibility of becoming King, a sense of duty, the prize of winning his fair maiden, any number of things. Sam was motivated because he loved his friend, and that's as much motivation as anyone needs.
I like this idea, Mithalwen, maybe you could compare Sam to Sherpa Tensing? And it's odd (to me, at any rate...) how the achievement of conquering Everest came in the same decade as Lord of the Rings...
I'm sure if you decide to "become extraordinary" then everyone would laugh at you for being terribly presumptuous and maybe a little bit pretentious and would secretly be crossing their fingers that you fall flat on your face.
Or is this just an English thing?