Your “Kernel”

Keep your drive alive

The last kind of habit is one I cannot articulate for you. You’ll have to find it within yourself. It has many names:

• Purpose
• Vision
• Mission
• Calling
• Intrinsic motivation

However, I like the word drive. Lose it, and you will eventually burn out. Keep your drive alive. In Dan Pink’s book on the topic, he notes:

“As children, we are driven by our inner desires to learn, to discover, and to help others. But as we grow, we are programmed by our society to need extrinsic motivations: if we take out the trash, study hard, and work tirelessly, we will be rewarded with friendly praise, high grades, and good paychecks. Slowly, we lose more and more of our intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic promises destroy intrinsic motivation.”