The Charge - Brendon Burchard
Activating the 10 Human Drives that Make You Feel Alive
BASELINE
FORWARD
HUMAN
HUMAN
DRIVES
DRIVES
1. Control......................--> 6. Charge
2. Competence..............--> 7. Challenge
3. Congruence...............--> 8. Creative
Expression
4. Caring.......................--> 9.
Contribution
5. Connection...............--> 10. Consciousness
The Baseline Drives
Not things we necessarily need to
survive, but they are things we want to have.
1. CONTROL - To regulate and influence our overall life experience
a.
ACTIVATOR 1 = Control your outlook and character
i. Control what kind of information you let into your brain - Let
good information in.
ii. Be an optimist
iii. Control the quality of person you will be on an everyday basis -
intention is not
enough: actions must show character
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Control for "new"
i. 90 day mental getaway
ii. New dining events (new restaurant, eat with friends)
iii. What's happening in your area this weekend?
iv. Travel adventures
v. Expand your peer circle
vi. Develop new skills
c. ACTIVATOR 3 =
Control workflow
i. Be fully involved in two to five major projects from beginning
to end
ii. STOP BEING DISTRACTED! Order your day toward accomplishing real work
tasks. Emails last.
Charge points:
1. If I were to live at a
higher level of character and maintain a more positive outlook, I would have to
begin _________________________________.
2. Two things I could schedule in my calendar right now to control
for "new" and introduce novelty and challenge into my life are
____________________________________.
3. A project that I could get involved in or create immediately
that would allow me to be more fully invested in my work and shepherd a project
from beginning to end would be ________________.
2. COMPETENCE - The ability to understand, successfully perform
in, and master our world
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Assess and
direct your desire to learn
i. See
yourself using the new skill in the future and see it contributing to who you
are
ii. Learn for
intrinsic value - Learn something you find personally meaningful
iii. Learn
something useful to you
iv. Don't avoid
learning because of some "imagined" opportunity cost that doesn't
exist
v. Don't avoid
learning something because you are afraid of the time it will take for it to
payoff
vi. Be in control of the
outcome of learning something new. Do not let fear of failure stop
you from
beginning. Your hard work pays off!
vii. Create meaningful
relationships along the way; Make sure you are supported in your
efforts
viii. Do not be afraid to
over-extend yourself! Over-extension leads to growth!
ix. Consciously evaluate
the resources you would need to begin learning something new
x. Make sure you
are given the trust you need to begin learning
HOW have I been approaching new learning situations?
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Set a real challenge, plan for success,
and get a coach!
i. To grow
in life, you need to focus on growth!
ii. Are there any
important areas of your life that you have not improved in a while?
iii. Choose real,
observable, time-bound challenges that will advance your life. YOU set
the challenge. PUSH yourself. Do it for no other reason than to grow.
---. Be a planner
---. Have someone to coach and encourage you
through it
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Integrate
successes into your identity
i.
Take time to give yourself credit for what you have learned, even on a daily
basis
Charge points:
1. One area I would have to develop more skill and competence in,
if I am going to make my dream future come true is _____________________________________.
2. A 60 day speed-learning challenge I am going to give myself is
_______________________.
3. One of the ways I am going start celebrating my wins and
integrating my successes into my identity is to _________________________________.
3. CONGRUENCE - To live in consistent alignment with who we think
we are, how we want others to perceive us, and who we want to become
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Set new
standards for yourself.
i.
Be congruent for yourself and with others and consistently live those
standards
ii.
Consciously describe who you want to be for yourself
iii.
Consciously describe who you want to be for others
iv.
Consistently live your vision
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Set your mood
meter: Have emotional congruence with a positive
mood.
What mood do you want to have? Why?
i.
Do physical movement (exercise) often
ii. Play
positive music or sounds
iii. Pay
attention to positive and shut out the negative stimuli
iv.
Surround yourself with positive people
v. Be
enthusiastic about the future
vi. Start
the day with positive expectation
vii. Drink
water all day long
viii. Look
for reasons to say thank you and complement others
ix.
Have lunch with friends
x.
Write in a journal each night
c. ACTIVATOR 3 =
Keep your word and follow through
i.
Understand the depth of the impact of your words
ii.
Follow through with your responsibilities and duties
(follow through with what you know you
should be doing)
Charge Points:
1. To live my 6-word standards each day, the behaviours I would
have to stop/start in my life, to be more congruent with them, are
_________________________________.
2. Three things I could do every day to manage my mood, so I could
have a greater day-to-day congruence in how I feel are
__________________________.
3. Five commitments I am going to make and keep in the next 60
days are _______________.
4. CARING - To care for others
a. ACTIVATOR 1 =
Care for thyself
i.
Drink a lot more water (6 L a day)
ii.
Sleep more
iii.
Smaller portions, more produce (one third of a plate)
iv.
Exercise at least three times per week
v.
Meditate (twice a day)
vi.
Give yourself a little credit
vii.
Engage your emotions more often
This is an aspect of congruence as well
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Be more
vulnerable and allow others to care for you more
i. Let your guard down
ii.
Be bold and open yourself to care from others
iii.
What challenges or problems are you having in the areas of life? What are your
ambitions? Will you go it alone in these problems & dreams
-- or will you ask for
help?
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Be more
present, interested, and attentive to others
i. People need our presence, not our presents
ii.
When someone talks about a personal experience, ask this question: "Wow!
How
did you feel when that happened?"
Charge Points:
1. Five ways I am going to start taking better care of myself
include _______________________.
2. If I were willing to be more vulnerable in life, I would
probably start asking for more help in the area of
___________________________________.
3. Three ways I will start demonstrating more care for the people
in my life are to _____________.
5. CONNECTION - To feel connected to others
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Define and
design your ideal relationships
i. Family
ii.
Friendship
iii.
Intimate relationship
iv.
Coworker relationship
b. ACTIVATOR 2 =
Practice positive projection
i. Project
positive traits onto others -- they will live up to them
ii. See
others in an overwhelmingly positive light (make excuses for others)
iii. Stop seeing
others as obstacles, but see them as teammates or "worthy opponents"
iv. Give 5 times
more praise than complaints or negativity
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Find and
cultivate "growth friends"
i. Choose
how much time you give your friends
ii. Choose
how much you will develop the quality of such relationships
iii. Make
the choice to surround yourself with remarkable friends that will help lift you
to
the level you know you should be at
iv. Get real about the friends you will develop
deeper relationships with
---. Write down all the friends you've
ever had
---. Write a short description of 1.
What about them you liked as friends;
2. Why you
are still or no longer friends with them.
---. Categorize as 1. Old friends; 2.
Maintenance friends; 3. Growth friends
---. Share your true thoughts,
feelings and ambitions in life
---. You want growth friends? Model
the friendship.
Charge Points:
1. Five things I could do immediately to create happier and deeper
relationships in my life would be ____________________________________.
2. If I did a better job in positively projecting toward my spouse
or significant other, I would start to give that person credit for these things
______________________________________.
3. The growth friends I have in my life, or will now try to
cultivate include ___________________.
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The Forward Drives
The ability to master the baseline drives dramatically affects our
ability to activate our forward drives
These drives shake you up, are less comfortable to fully activate,
but are more satisfying; they demand planning and demand more of yourself,
acting more boldly than ever before
6. CHANGE - Intelligently and strategically manage (CONTROL) your
desire for change
a. ACTIVATOR
1 = Make change about the gains, not the losses
i. People
fear what change will bring because of
---. expectation of loss
---. expectation of the pain of the process of
change
---. expectation of bad outcome
ii. Focus
on gains
iii. Focus
on new challenges
iv. Change
the negative "what-if" statements to positive "what-if"
statements
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Get clarity,
think big, and be bold
i.
Defined, detailed vision for what you want to accomplish and have been
accomplishing
ii. Think
big and it will demand all the best in you. "SMART" goals are not
good enough.
iii. Chase
a goal that is unthinkable for others; get up again and again
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Make real
choices
i. Make
real choices in advance of setting out for change
ii. Make clear
and focused statements on what you want (this) and what you don't want
(that):
---. I want this, not that
---. Do more of this, no more of that
---. When this happens, do that (hook new habits onto old ones)
---. Always choose this, not that
---. Do this now, then that
Charge Points:
1. A major change I have been holding back in my life, because of
a major loss, process or outcome pain is _____________________________________.
2. A clear and bold new change I could make in my life would be to
____________________.
3. The "this-that" rules I could apply to this clear and
bold new change would be ____________.
7. CHALLENGE - Challenge yourself!
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Choose more
fulfilling challenges
5 aspects of fulfilling focuses
i.
Demand singularity of focus
ii.
Stretch our efforts and capabilities
iii.
Ability to "score" your performance and progress
iv. Allow
for sense of completion
v. Allow a
sharing of experience and achievement
b. ACTIVATOR 2 =
Focus on the journey and don't fear rejection
Two enemies of challenge:
i.
unmet expectations
ii.
paralyzing fear of rejection
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Set monthly,
30-day challenges
i.
Check in each Sunday and at the end of the month
ii.
personal development challenges
iii. social challenges
iv.
giving challenges
v.
contribute to the world
---. DO NOT avoid a challenge because you can't envision
the solution!
---. DO NOT address these problems alone!
Charge Points:
1. The next big and bold challenge I am going to take on in my
life is to __________________.
2. If I stopped fearing rejection, a challenge I would have taken
on earlier in my life would have been to _______________.
3. The 30-day challenges I could set for myself, over the next 12
months include ____________.
8. CREATIVE EXPRESSION - Creatively expressing something of your
unique self
The new worker is the "creative" worker, the innovator
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Amplify
creative expression in all areas of your life
i.
Can you see your creative expression in all areas of your life? Relationships,
the
home, at work?
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Study people and
design
i.
People watch
ii.
Get into the arts
iii.
Notice how things are designed
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Create more;
share more
i.
Actually create something
ii.
Really creating something requires a long slog of hard work with knowledge
Charge Points
1. To show more of me and express myself more creatively, at home
and at work, I will _______.
2. To be more inspired by people and design in my life, I could
start ______________________.
3. The next thing I am going to physically create and share with
the world would be ___________.
9. CONTRIBUTION - To give something that matters
Contribution is the source of meaning in our lives
Not all methods of contribution are created equal!
Giving of versus Giving to
a. ACTIVATOR 1 = Give of yourself (and give yourself credit
while you're at it!)
i. Give the best of yourself to everything
you do and you will feel like you are contributing
ii. Give all your energy, skill, effort,
etc... and you will be giving of yourself
iii. It is enough
to give your best self in everything! Don't try to be famous,
just give yourself and let things happen.
iv. How have you contributed to the life
of your family?
v. Recognize your impact!
b. ACTIVATOR 2 = Give to deeply meaningful contribution
experiences
i. You can give your time, energy, effort,
resources, skills, connections, attention, and love to others
ii. The world already recognizes this type
of giving
iii. Choose the right giving activity
matters as much as choosing the right cause
iv. Choose novel, challenging, socially
connected and personally meaningful activity
FIVE CONTRIBUTION FULFILLMENT FACTORS
1. Must have ability to leverage
your strengths in some kind of creative activity & must be able to see your
creative works come to fruition
2. The most meaningful
experiences almost always involves mentoring others
3. Satisfying contribution
experiences let us see the direct social impact of our efforts
4. Don't choose the cause that
you feel is most important
5. "Fate funding":
Giving to people whom "fate" has placed in front of us--giving to their causes
c. ACTIVATOR 3 = Mentor,
mentor, mentor!
i. You can make
an impact, and get paid for it, through your knowledge!
ii. Man's main concern is not gain
pleasure, or avoid pain, but rather, to see a meaning in his life." Viktor
Frankl
Charge Points:
1. I feel I contribute to the world around me by
_________________________________.
2. A new, and deeply meaningful giving experience I'd like to
create is _________________.
3. Someone who could use my mentoring is
______________________________________.
10. CONSCIOUSNESS – Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?
-Consciousness = the human-bound
capacity to be self-aware (human, psychological, in the body)
-Consciousness = non-human,
cosmic/divine unifying energy or force (religious, spiritual, outside the body,
transcendent)
We can achieve both.
a. ACTIVATOR
1 = Focus your consciousness
i.
Be conscious of your thoughts. Where shall I focus my thoughts now?
ii.
Be conscious of your emotional and physical energy. How shall I feel right now?
iii.
Be conscious of your behaviour. Always full integrity with self and deep respect for others!
iv.
Be conscious of others. Know thyself, but know others too. Seek insight into others’ lives.
v.
Be conscious of your progress. What is your end? Am I moving forward in life?
b.
ACTIVATOR 2 = Transcend consciousness
We seek a connection with a higher
purpose, God, ask the existential questions, and to connect with something more
than ourselves.
i.
Be conscious of the present moment. We can sense a oneness right now! Am I fully present right now? How present am I on
scale of 1
to 10? Be fully present with what is.
ii.
Be at peace with your past and with what life is now.
iii.
Be conscious of coincidence and intuition.
iv.
Be conscious of love. What if love is the force holding the universe together? Live this love. Give love, don’t wait
for it, and don’t expect anything in return.
c.
ACTIVATOR 3 = Live in wonder.
i.
Allow yourself to be amazed!
ii.
We can steer our free will to create a sense of awe.
iii.
Meet wondrous thoughts that come to you and wonder about them deeply
Charge Points:
1. If I were more aware and directive
of my consciousness in life, my life would change in these ways:
___________________________________________________
2. To connect with a higher
consciousness on a more regular basis, I could
_____________________________________________________________________
3. The things that inspire my wonder
about the world and my place in it include _____________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
You
cannot completely win. You cannot fully master any of the drives. The journey
is what makes you “charged”. You can have the commitment it takes to activate
these drives everyday more and more. Difficult does not mean “bad”. Challenges
make us alive! The struggle is worth it.
Give yourself permission to live fully
expressed and live with more life. Challenge others to charge themselves as
well.
The 11th Human Drive: THE DRIVE FOR
CELEBRATION
We experience this when we go beyond
ourselves and succeed at it, “out there” in the world. Be bold and ready
yourself. You can live every day in celebration.
