There are many ways to live life. Some people follow the driven approach, some follow the disciplined approach, some follow the dramatic approach. Some people combine elements of each approach. Let’s explore these themes.
The Driven Approach
Different people follow the driven approach for different reasons. They may be driven to care for their loved ones, follow a spiritual faith, follow a vocation, pursue a mission or aim to achieve their picture of success.
Such people may often feel obsessed. They may wake up in the morning and focus on: a) what they believe in doing; b) how they can do something towards it that day; c) how they can set achievable goals and get a sense of satisfaction.
People who follow this approach may experience both pluses and minuses. They may then need to learn how to manage these in a positive way.
The pluses can include the following. They may feel alive, pursue a purpose, serve something greater than themselves and get a sense of satisfaction.
The minuses can include the following. They may behave in an unhealthy way, ignore the needs of other people or feel they are failing to fulfil their potential.
The Disciplined Approach
People who follow this approach often start by focusing on a specific goal they want to achieve. They aim to complete a project, build a business, fulfil a mission, win a gold medal or achieve their picture of success.
They may then map out the route they can follow to achieve their goal. One approach is for them:
To clarify the key strategies they can follow to give themselves the greatest chance of success;
To clarify the structure they can follow when pursuing these strategies – such as how to organise their schedule and resources;
To clarify the daily disciplines they can follow to achieve the goal and then translate these into a clear action plan.
Such people then follow these disciplines. Sometimes they aim to do this without thinking. They simply click into action, follow good habits and aim to get positive results.
Sometimes they need to take time to reflect, however, to make sure they are still on track. They may then need to do some course correction in order to reach their destination.
People who follow this approach may experience both pluses and minuses. They may then need to learn how to manage these in a positive way.
The pluses can include the following. They may enjoy having a sense of purpose, following a daily routine, achieving daily goals and working towards something that will give them satisfaction.
The minuses can include the following. They may need to make sure they are working to achieve the right goals – otherwise they might be climbing the wrong mountain. They also need to be aware that following their disciplines may sometimes adversely affect themselves or other people.
The Dramatic Approach
People who follow this approach love to feel alive. They often follow their passions, do stimulating activities and enjoy the drama that comes with these experiences.
Such people often get highs. They may experience these when playing, learning or exploring. They feel joy when doing creative projects, tackling certain challenges or achieving a sense of fulfilment.
Becoming immersed in such activities, they may also encounter downsides. They may experience conflicts, disappointments and other dramatic emotions.
Such people do not like to feel numb. They may aim to change this by throwing themselves into positive activities where they feel alive. Some may also create conflicts or other difficulties. Such people prefer to have dramatic emotions rather than feel numb.
People who follow this approach may experience both pluses and minuses. They may then need to learn how to manage these in a positive way.
The pluses can include the following. They may feel alive, enjoy life, gather many experiences, create positive memories for life, keep developing and achieve peak performances.
The minuses can include the following. They may experience bipolar emotions – veering from highs to lows. They find it difficult to be selective because they want to do everything. Such people may also be challenging to live with.
Some people may combine elements of the driven, disciplined and dramatic approaches. If so, it can be helpful for them then learn how to manage the pluses and minuses of each route.
One common combination is for a person to follow the driven and disciplined approaches. They may aim to make things as predictable as possible. They may also aim to find ways to deal with any dramas on the way to reaching their destination.
Let’s return to your own life and work. What may be the approach – or the combination of approaches – that you often tend to follow? What are the pluses and minuses of this approach? How can you build on the pluses and manage the consequences of any minuses?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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