Know
thyselves.

Actually, it’s pretty straightforward. The better we (get to) know ourselves, the better we can be (get) in what we do and how we do it. The more successful. The more satisfied. Pleased. Happy. Unknowingly, we may have been not bad. Knowingly, we may become . . . yes, what? Where’s the limit?

The single most important question in succeeding: What is it that drives me?

It’s a fact: We don’t just do things that happen to cross our ways, and do these things in best ways possible. We are driven to do things. Driven to select things we want to respond to – or to »not-respond« to (which of course is a response, too). Driven to do things in automatic ways, that is, in ways not sensitive for the situation given and for the action required. Driven? By what? By whom? Driven by ourselves! And there’s more: What drives us is not only responsible for what we do and how we do it. It also accounts for what we see, and what we choose not to see. How we interpret what we see. How we decide what to make of what we see. And, only then, what to do about it – how to act.

We have a pretty straightforward model of those our »inner drivers«. (See below slides.) We’ve tried, as always, to keep it simple. We say: The core of our drivers consists of only four elements. These, however, tend to join forces. Meaning: Most of the time there’s more than one driver in the driver seat to influence our perceptions, decisions, actions. Which makes it a trifle more complicated to decipher what’s going on – inside and outside of us. But then, we’re here to see you through. And it’s worth the while, too: Knowing what drives us helps us thrive. 

Let’s start.

Have a look: Our »Four Drivers« model (and fact):

We could – of course – not have said it better:

// Our motivations, like our habits, are not ‘us’. They are us on autopilot. We’re just reacting in a way that has become desirable, or comfortable, for us over time. //

Daniel Dennett — american Philosopher