What Drives You?

     It’s the beginning of a new week. We all have our agendas and plans with the hopes of completing them and making through to the weekend where we all can enjoy time with family and friends. As I sit here and look at my mountain of To Do’s and calls that need to be made, I reflect on why we do these things. What is the force that compels me to complete these tasks? Is it money? Maybe the need to satisfy someone else’s needs?

     It has become clear to me that the need to finish or do something is rarely just something to do. There is always a purpose for a completion of things in our lives. For example, this blog I write on and share with you all. I don’t sit here and write just to post something on a website and say I have a blog. I write because maybe the things I share with everyone will either help or challenge them to do better. If I can share what thoughts or experiences I have had in different facets of life, maybe it will help or entertain others. Sitting down with other writers and just people in general there is never the same motivation for what they do. With most stay at home moms I have talked to, the purpose that drives them is caring for their children. For some of them it started out as maybe losing their job or going on maternity leave and realizing they have a greater desire to stay with their child.

     Speaking with several of my Twitter followers the drive for them is business exposure. The feeling of creating something and making it a success is reason for them to get out of bed every morning. These people have families and friends but the desire to become an expert in their field is a greater motivation than anything else in their life. During interviews and conversations with them, I presented them with a hypothetical choice of moderate success and more time at home or hyper-success and less interaction with their personal life and most chose the latter.

     Of course there are many different groups or levels I can keep throwing out here but I’m sure you all didn’t come here to read a term paper on psychology and social development. The reason why I’m writing this column today is due largely to the fact of reflection. As the years go by and we go from kids to teens to adults to then watching our own children go through the cycle t becomes clear that each one of us has a driving factor in our lives. To get wrapped up in the day to day minutia of life tends to breaks us from what our original driving force is. Life becomes shorter as each day goes by and to look back and see the road you traveled wasn’t really the one you wanted can be a painful view. For me, I have made mistakes and choices along the way and regret some things I have done. Does it take away from what my original drive is, no it did not. I have my family and a job I am content in. I work on side projects, like this blog, to see if I can better our way of life. I get up every day with the drive to get what I feel will keep my house happy and others that depend on me outside of the home happy. I talk to people that are successful in areas I want to be better in and try to surround myself with positive folks.

     I challenge all of you out there to truly find what your drive is. Look past your tasks list and see what it is that compels you to do that task list. You may find your reasons for doing a list and your drive in life may be on two separate roads. I can guarantee that once you do find what your drive is, your comment to others in your world become more of a pleasure than a chore and life will become more enjoyable.