What Drives You

Some may want to know your purpose in life, identified goals and objectives, or even where you think you’ll be in a few years (I hate that interviewer’s question!). For me to answer any of these, I know I have to identify the thing that “drives” me. That takes a lot of time to think through! On many levels, the answers are the same. But some parts of life have not plumbed the history of why one may be headed the way they are going.

The driving force escapes them.

Take your j-o-b, for instance. Stuck. Dead end. Not comfortable. Topped out on the earning curve. Youngsters making more than you, but without your years of experience.

But then you look at your responsibilities – family, roof, comforts and needs, you suddenly understand your driving force. You have responsibilities! Obligations! Others are depending on you!

When that light bulb gets turned on, like Ford’s Better Idea, the energy flows into your purpose for working. Even if it’s the same old j-o-b, you now understand the potential for losing its impact. “What can I do to make it better? Process improvements? Help my leadership team with solutions?”

However it falls through your mind, you now understand you have options for action and reaction!

Investigation

Consider the lonely and lowly light bulb. You flip the switch to illuminate, and nothing happens. Immediately, you assume the worst! Blown out! However, it could simply be the power supply, broken connection, or tripped breaker. Like a detective, you begin tracing the problem, testing all the connections, understanding what’s happening elsewhere in your life, and eventually learning the truth.

Maybe the key to our drive is to investigate our background. Dig deep. Analyze the “why’s” and “what’s” of your life. Document your purpose and develop the drive to support forward motion. Look for improvements. Take better steps instead of shuffling from one day to the next.

Here’s My Thought

However brief it is, I was thinking about Cain and Abel this week. The offspring of Adam and Eve.

The first two humans who never experienced the Garden. Paradise. What did they know? Who could they compare themselves to? There were no communities of examples showing good choices or bad, no schools or scouting, and no friends to lead them one way or another!

All they had were their parents, and they were not exactly the best examples!

The day came, and the Bible is not very clear on the timing, but they would bring an offering to God. Abel was a shepherd, so he brought his offering from what he had. Cain, being a man of the harvest, brought his. But it was not accepted by God.

“Then the LORD asked Cain,
“Why are you angry, and why do you look disappointed?”  
Genesis 4:6 (GW)

In other words, now is a good time to take an account of your life. What’s driving you to this response? Was it something you did? Did you not understand the rules? Did you think you could slip by? Why are you upset?

Think about it. Maybe we know the rules, but we decide to do it our way, and it’s not acceptable! What’s driving us to live like we are, making the decisions and reacting the way we do?

In other words, what’s the driving force for your choices?

What drives you?

Each of us finds we are in desperate situations. Often. We refuse to spend the time determining what brought us to this point, nor why we are responding the way we do. Maybe our planning went out the window like something tossed when we didn’t want to handle it.

One thing I do know is that this is not the time to procrastinate! Our responsibilities demand we understand the driving force. Our understanding needs to be enlightened!

When I’m overwhelmed or I’ve not been happy with my response to something, then I seek a place and time of escape. Sometimes, it’s why I write like I do. Other times, it’s spending “quiet” time on the tractor or driving down the road. Sometimes, I zone out and spend some time in introspection, even in a crowd.

Knowing is Knowing

The smart thing to do is to investigate the reasons behind our decisions. Understanding should create avenues of options. Yes, knowing is knowing, but without doing anything about it, then it’s like a collection of books gathering dust in the corner.

Reality check? When I know, but keep doing the same thing over and over while expecting differing results, then that defines “insanity”. Maybe this is our reality. We are slightly unhooked and out of kilter with ourselves and need to find the path to being sane.

Maybe the key to all of this is understanding our motives. The reasons why we disconnect from better paths and move down the roads that are fraught with distractions and dangers.

Knowing is Doing Better

This is where I’m at this morning. I’ve spent time analyzing everything. Nothing is sacred. Everything’s on the negotiating table. Now that I “know” it’s time to “do”. Understanding what drives me allows the unlocking of better options!

How about you? What are you doing that needs to be undone and redone with a better goal? Do you know your motives and driving forces?

Thank you for reading.
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It helps me get my book written!