Curious about Drive: A Book about Motivation. What Drives Us and Our Work, Life, and Day-to-Day Activity?

Definition of Drive: To urge, impel, or hurry forward; to force; to constrain; to urge, press, or bring to a point or state; as, to drive a person by necessity, by persuasion, by force of circumstances, by argument, and the like. To press forward; to aim, or tend, to a point; to make an effort; to strive. Driven.

“Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.” - Denis Waitley, American writer and motivator

What motivates you? What do you think motivates others?

I chose drive for this week’s blog, because I am reading a fabulous book by one of my favorite authors, Daniel Pink. From the front flap, “Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money – the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book.”

“Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does – and how that affects every aspect of life.”

I suggest that you visit http://www.danpink.com/ to find out more about him and the book. Also, take the time to watch and listen to his TED presentation.

Of course, I looked up the experts’ quotations that include the word drive, and there were lots. Unfortunately, however, the majority focused on driving a car or being “driven crazy.” I did find some interesting ones that I am including here:

• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr., American leader
• “Basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation and timing.” - Marvin Bower, American businessman
• “Too many people feel that where you start out dictates where you should end up. I was on welfare and just shy of 19 when my first daughter was born, but I was encouraged to take advantage of my ability and drive and remained in school.” - Gwen Moore, American politician
• “A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up. It's all a matter of pride.” - Nancy Lopez, American athlete
• “Shame is such an intense emotion. It just can drive you.” - Kyra Sedgwick, American actress
• “Writing children's books gives a writer a very strong sense of narrative drive.” –
  Helen Dunmore, British poet
• “Reason is a passion; an instinct, a drive.” - Bette Howland, American writer and critic

And a few more that I found interesting:

• “If I drive myself to the brink of my ability, then I don't get stale or bored.” - Dean Koontz, American author
• “There's a drive in me that won't allow me to do certain things that are easy.” - Johnny Depp, American actor
• “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” - Thomas Hardy, English novelist
• “The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” - Roger Bannister, British athlete
• “The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work.” – Lucian Freud, British artist
• “I've said it before, but it's absolutely true: My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future.” - Liza Minelli, American actress

So, what gives you the drive and the motivation to succeed? I would love to hear from you, and also those of you who have read Daniel Pink’s books. He is amazing!