“but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails” - Barry White
When people talk about what motivates them, they often talk about a higher goal, a vision, a purpose, a love. Which may well be true.
However when I watch what people do, I have observed that actually what seems to drive people is a fear of something. It might be a fear of poverty or being wrong or being unliked by people. It’s not about what people are moving towards, it’s about what we are seeking to escape from. This is the engine that drives us. Moving away from what we are afraid of is about survival. It is primal.
It is also something we try to keep hidden from others because we worry it gives them power over us. And we are often right to be worried. But we are imperfect deceivers. How could we not be when this thing is so powerful, such a source of dark energy? It’s like trying to hide a nuclear explosion with a pillow case.
I don’t want to say fear is all that matters. Barry White Niccolo Machiavelli was careful to say that the ambitious should cultivate both love and fear and they should avoid inciting hatred. I also think we need positive things to strive for.
But we need to know our own fears so that we can control them rather than be controlled by them.
My own greatest fear is probably boredom. I will do incredibly risky things to avoid being bored. There, I have revealed something personal and important to you. But I’m not sure what you could do with that information. Maybe if I am chasing you, you could throw a bunch of shiny things one way and then run in the other.
That is sure to distract m