First of all, I have now quit cigarettes for the third (and final) time. (*Shock and awe!* Yes, marathoner miss triathlete to be decided to emotionally pick up an old old habit/crutch for a minute) Why do I quit? Because what I want is not what cigarettes give me. Why did I pick them up? Stress-relief & external expression of internal pain. Anyway, I want a beautiful singing voice, and cigarettes steal that from me. I want my voice more than I crave the nicotine. I do crave — and it sucks! I threw away the last 2 that I had in my pack today when walking into the gym (ironic) and right now, sure, I wish that I had them. But then again, I don’t. My desire to not want them is stronger than my desire to have them.
So that opens my blog post this day, my question: what drives people? What drives you to get up in the morning and do whatever it is that you do with your 24 hours? We have just about 13 hours of daylight right now – what do you do with it? More importantly, WHY? Why do you do what you do? What motivates you? What moves you?
In psychology, motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors…
I Googled “What motivates you” and enjoyed reading some of the answers. For some, it’s not to go hungry. Or to take care of their family. Or for God, that they feel a sense of duty to fulfill a purpose. For some, they want to do better than their parents. Others like a challenge. Others care about people and want to make a difference.Still others are working to prove a point or to prove someone wrong. Not one of these can I say is better than the others. To each his/her own. But do you know what drives you? Self-analysis is the first step to moving forward in any area of life. It’s one of the biggest things I have picked up from training for my first marathon last year. I learned to self-analyze what I was doing and WHY I was doing it, and even more importantly, asked myself, “Is this good for me?” Gosh that question is huge. Now I take that lesson to every area of my life. It was a tough journey to start – to question the very things that I had built my life and thoughts on.
(Thoughts –> Words –> Actions –> Habits –> Life)
A little over one year ago, my world was rocked – I was incredibly depressed and felt as if I had no reason to live. That started a trek of finding out who I really am. A few things – for me personally, I find great joy in helping other people. I am a server; I gain fulfillment in helping and in solving problems/finding solutions. I like being a part of something. A year ago, I was in a position of questioning all that I had leaned on — and found that it was built on sand. It was like the tide came in, took the sand, and my little beach house of 23 years caved in.
I’ve since gone back and cemented my own thoughts and beliefs, and continue to sift through, discover, and build on them today. It has been a very tough journey! But today, I can honestly look you in the eye and tell you – I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. I took my own life by omy own reins and decided to drive it and build it to spec.
Today, what really drives me is the excitement of doing all that I am passionate about. It is the reason I don’t need much sleep. I am too excited to sleep and would rather spend time doing other things! Like training, or studying. Or socializing.
So I take the question back to you – what drives you? What are you passionate about? Are you pursuing it?
We constantly have to prioritize and make decisions that align with what is truly important to us and what we truly want to do. Life gets real fun when we do!
Carpe Diem!
One does not leave a convivial party before closing time. -Winston Churchill
aubreyeicher 