In my previous rambling, I rambled a bit about drive, those qualities that it resembles, and why I think it's important. I took an external view of drive, showing what it looks like from the outside. This time I'd like to turn it inside-out and see what it looks like on the inside.
The way I see it, there are two types of drive: external drive, and internal drive. External drive is easier for me to understand, and I think I can come closer to doing it justice than I can internal drive, so I'll discuss it first.
External Drive
External drive is catalyzed by some outside force, usually a strong emotion. For example:
I recently had a fascinating conversation with some neighbors of mine, one of whom immigrated to the United States from the middle east. He came off as an extremely driven individual, and I inquired a bit about his thoughts on the subject of drive. He spoke to me of the mistreatment of innocent people in the country of his birth, and of the utter hopelessness and lack of opportunity there.
He then proceeded to tell me of his joy upon coming to this country and discovering the limitless opportunity here. In the country where he was born, he could never go beyond what society had laid out for him. Here, whatever he was capable of, he could do freely and without fear of punishment or ostracism. After a short time here, he began working 16-20 hour days, going to school, and living on almost no sleep for a period of years. Such was his fear that he would have to return to his harsh, restrictive homeland that he would do anything to remain here.
This is just one example of a catalyst for external drive: fear. Others tend to be equally intense emotions, such as love or ambition. These are fairly easy to understand, as they all revolve around wanting something. This leads to a contrasting idea:
Internal Drive
Internal drive is much more mysterious to me. Some people seem to have an unmotivated drive which leads them to accomplishment without any of the strong catalysts mentioned in the previous section. What is behind this internal drive? While it is possible that it is just cleverly-disguised external drive, I think there's something more to it. This is where I'll be focusing my thoughts on the subject of drive, but for now, I'll leave you to yer bubble-blowin', mate.
-DeThroneD
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