For most of my life, my actions have been powered by what my friend Peter Corbett calls “dirty fuel". My parents believed I was special so I worked to prove them right. My bullies made me feel powerless so I worked to prove them wrong. My family didn’t have much money so I worked to never feel poor.
Totally get this! The drive is the strive. And when you let go of the need to prove there is a definite shift needed to find the next intrinsic motivator. I keep on going back to, and sending on to passionate/activist/changemaking mates in their late 40's going through this exact thing. It's time to shift from being the change to being the teacher, mentor, cheerleader, enabler.
I love this man. This has been a big part of my process over the last several years - first, identifying that my fuel was in fact dirty, then working to discover what clean fuel looks like, and what the work looks like that's an expression of that.
Also… I have been wondering lately if labeling these fuels as “dirty” is itself a judgment that misses on their utility. Fear, after all, I’d another expression of love.
Totally get this! The drive is the strive. And when you let go of the need to prove there is a definite shift needed to find the next intrinsic motivator. I keep on going back to, and sending on to passionate/activist/changemaking mates in their late 40's going through this exact thing. It's time to shift from being the change to being the teacher, mentor, cheerleader, enabler.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-peak-professional-decline/590650/
I love this man. This has been a big part of my process over the last several years - first, identifying that my fuel was in fact dirty, then working to discover what clean fuel looks like, and what the work looks like that's an expression of that.
Also… I have been wondering lately if labeling these fuels as “dirty” is itself a judgment that misses on their utility. Fear, after all, I’d another expression of love.
Nailed it 👏
🙌 I love this podcast episode on being motivated by fear, prospect, duty, and love. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1iE5vFTA463LqVGrtpuDyn?si=fk4-RlWCRyGP5Th-kHmNZw