But the voices inside my head TOLD me to do it!

The other day Seth Godin (www.SethGodin.com) who's view of the world and marketing is refreshingly unique and I aspire to be as creative of a thinker as he is one-day wrote on his blog an interesting interpretation of why we do things in life. As I looked at the description of these “voices” I thought about which ones have been most vocal inside my head. I'll elaborate on a few, and why they led me to the decsions I've made.

The loudest voice I would say is the “hunter” which want's to successfully track and bring down a target; These targets for me have ranged from semi predictable situations like completing basic training, scaling slippery rocks next to a rushing mountain creek, climbing mountains, to less than predictable ones like volunteering for combat. I love to challenge myself and test my abilities. Life to me is an adventure waiting to be lived, if you don't live it you'll look back and wish you did.

But my “Philanthropist” voice which wants to spread an idea combined with my “Artist” voice which wants to be generous, creative, and make positive change, has shaped my interest in the field of marketing and advertising, where I can fullfill both those desires by helping other tell their story so they can benefit more people. The non-profit organzation I work for now: Veteran Tickets Foundation (www.VetTix.org) has a great mission of giving Veterans free tickets and is letting me help them spread the word and tell others their story.

Surprisingly enough as much as I like to share my adventures, projects, and successes with my friends and family my “ego” voice doesn't want much applause or special recognition...a simple “well done” suffices most of the time!
At the end of the day though, sometimes my “zombie” would like to sit back and enjoy and good movie, or episode of CSI Las Vegas!

So I pose this question to you, what voice do you think is loudest in your head? Was it one described by Seth, or something else? Feel free to tell the world what drives you, because remember, it's all in your head!



Seth's Original post:



Not just my head, but your customer's head and yes... yours.
Everyone has multiple conversations and priorities going on, competing agendas that come into play every time we make a choice about doing, buying, creating or interacting. I think these voices (and a few I missed) determine which career we choose, how good a job we do, where we shop and what we watch. Here are a few:

• The ego--seeks applause and recognition.
• The lizard--seeks safety, wants to fit in and not be rejected or criticized.
• The artist--wants to be generous, creative and make positive change with impact.
• The boxer--wants to poke and be poked, seeks revenge and ultimately victory.
• The zombie--wants to turn off and be entertained.
• The carpenter--seeks to do useful work, and finish it well.
• The philanthropist--wants to help, anonymously.
• The evangelist--wants to spread an idea.
• And the hunter--wants to successfully track and bring down a target.
  

There's a lot of overlap here, no doubt about it. Who's winning?