In the work I do, I see a difference between passion and drive, yet both are great motivators.
I recall working with a teacher who had such a passion for what she did. Late night planning activities for her class, going above and beyond with volunteering work and more. Her pay check was not that great and she was a very intelligent and capable woman who could have easily worked her way up within the education field yet she chose to stay in the class room. She loved her job. I would say that her passion motivated her every day.
Whereas I recall a client of mine who worked long hours as an Attorney. She didn’t particularly enjoy her work (although she was very good at it), and she was rewarded with large paychecks every two weeks. When I asked her why she decided to be an Attorney as she told me there was no passion in what she did and she answered that “it was the safe thing to do”. I would say that the motivation here was drive. A drive to fill the need to feel safe and large paychecks was a mean to do this.
A lot of people confuse passion with drive. After all, they both seem to accomplish the same end result – the motivation to succeed. But there is a
key difference. Passion and desire is addictive and gives us pleasure. No matter the long hours the teacher puts into her work or the over scheduled parent meetings, she loved what she did.
Drive is different. It is perhaps about outside expectations from our parents and care givers’ influence whilst growing up. It becomes “the norm” growing up and my client followed “the norm” in choosing a financially safe career. The stability and respect she commands from her friends and family is a tremendous motivation, being what other people think of her really matters.
In the service that I provide, I can honestly say my motivation comes from passion and I am fortunate enough to have allowed my passion to motivate me and the increased pay checks followed.
The legacy I have passed down to my children is for them to “find what they really want to do in life, being their passion, then work for somebody else in learning the business, then go and do for themselves”.
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