Many people follow the well-known pleasure and pain principle. They want to increase their pleasure and minimise any pain. They also want to feel in control and get the basic materials for life.
Different people are then driven by different things in their lives and work. They may then translate these into working towards achieving their picture of success.
This piece summarises some of the drivers that people may follow. There are, of course, many other drivers. People may also combine some of the different drivers and translate these into action.
Purpose Driven
Some people are driven by a sense of purpose. They may aim to follow a spiritual faith, follow their vocation or pursue a mission. They then work towards achieving a compelling goal.
Such people wake up each day and focus on how they can pursue their purpose. They may then aim to use their strengths to do superb work and achieve their view of success.
Principles Driven
Some people believe in following certain principles. These principles act as guiding compass that provide a framework for making decisions in their life and work. They then they aim translate these principles into action.
Some may actually be principles driven rather than prize driven. They get a win every day by following their principles and sometimes, as a by-product, they may also get prizes.
People Driven
Some people love to help other people. They love to give them encouragement and help them to succeed. They want to give positive things to people during their time on the planet.
Different people express this drive in different ways. They may aim to build a happy family, provide an inspiring education or build a positive work place. They aim to support people and provide them with positive memories for life.
Passion Driven
Some people love to do what they feel passionately about. They may focus on the specific activities that give them positive energy and where they have the ability to perform superb work.
Some love to do things where there is an element of performance. They then aim to follow certain principles, deliver peak performances and achieve their picture of success.
Power Driven
Some people are power driven. They want to feel important, gain a certain status or become famous. This can lead to constant striving. It can also lead to behaving in ways that have consequences for themselves or other people.
Such people may also want to achieve actual power. They want to get into positions where they can control people or tell other people how they should live. This can become addictive and lead to them wanting even more power.
Some people combine several of these drivers. Sometimes this can be positive for both themselves and other people. Sometimes it can be negative and create collateral damage.
Let’s return to your own life and work. What are the specific things you do to be purpose driven, principles driven, people driven, passion driven or follow other drives? How do you translate these into action?
What are the potential pluses and minuses of taking these steps? What are the specific things you can do to build on the pluses and minimise the potential minuses?
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