Drifting
Approximately 98% of people are drifters.
Odds are you are one as well. But that’s okay, we were too
A drifter is someone without a goal or purpose and is literally drifting through life. A drifter is easily influenced by anything (especially a non-drifter). A drifter has no plan of action and has very little willpower. There are not many great examples of drifters that are well known (because they are drifters and generally fail to earn any renown). A non-drifter is spectacularly easy to spot, because they move with purpose, speak with confidence, and perform with excellence. Michael Jordan is an excellent example of a non-drifter.
There are costs associated with being a non-drifter that most people aren’t willing to pay. From an early age, Michael Jordan became single mindedly obsessed with becoming the greatest basketball player he could be. He had to make sacrifices, mostly in the social arena (partying all night and sleeping in is not conducive to the master plan), but he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest basketball players to ever live. Most envy him but would hesitate to make the same sacrifices.
“You can be drifter and still have mild success, but you will never be the best.”
Being a drifter doesn’t mean being unemployed and living in your mom’s basement (remember, 98% of people are drifters). You can be a drifter and have mild success, but you will never be the best. You may even be perfectly content with your good 9-5 job and your nice salary, but that’s the problem- you should never be content. It’s difficult to come up with an example of a famous athlete that is a drifter, because it’s kind of an oxymoron. Once you learn the characteristics of a drifter, you will begin to identify almost everyone in your life as a drifter.
We’ve discovered that there is an intermediate phase between drifter and non-drifter, which we call a ghost. A ghost is someone who has become aware of the fact that they are a drifter but still doesn’t know exactly what to do about it; they haven’t found that goal to be passionate and as a consequence become increasingly aware of the lack of passion and satisfaction in their daily lives.
“The drink would not satisfy. Food turned to ash in our mouths. And all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust.”
Steps to becoming a non-drifter:
Have a goal (it can be anything, lose 15 lbs, own your own business, win an Olympic gold). This is the hardest part.
Begin cutting out behaviors and people that detract from this goal (not necessarily people who are drifters, but people who actively attempt to pull you away from your goals and put you down because they don’t have their own). This step will be a lot easier if you have a well-defined goal you are passionate about.
Create a path to your goal and walk it confidently.
Don’t get discouraged if the change is taking some time, being able to identify drifter behaviors and tendencies is a monumental first step. There are several signs of a drifter, and once we have successfully identified them, we can begin correcting the behaviors. (Most of this research comes from Napoleon Hill’s book Outwitting the Devil, the end of the post has some brief information about the book)
Major Characteristics of a drifter:
They will be discernible by their lack of self-confidence.
They will never accomplish anything requiring thought and effort.
They will be ill-tempered and lacking in control of their emotions.
They will have opinions on everything but accurate knowledge of nothing.
They may be a jack of all trades but good at none.
They will make the same mistake over and over again, never profiting by failure.
They will be narrow-minded and intolerant on all subjects, ready to crucify those who may disagree with them.
They will criticize others who are succeeding in their chosen calling.
The drifter will work harder to get out of thinking than most others work in earning a good living.
They will tell a lie rather than admit their ignorance on any subject.
You will be shocked (and hopefully appalled) by the number of people in your life that exhibit some or all of these traits. A large majority of people that fit the drifter label perfectly would read the characteristics and deem themselves a non-drifter. This is a major problem, because without acknowledging we are flawed we can never change. We must come to terms with the fact that we are drifters, just like 98% of the world, only then can we begin to cease drifting.
Non-drifters are far less common, and therefore not likely to be present in your day to day lives. We must learn the traits of the non-drifter and strive to emulate them. Fortunately, there are fewer signs of a non-drifter (probably because they’re much rarer). Most of these characteristics can be achieved by establishing a goal and pursue it relentlessly and shamelessly.
Major Characteristics of a non-drifter:
They are always engaged in doing something definite, through some well-organized plan. They have a major goal in life to which they are always working, and many minor goals, all of which lead toward their central scheme.
The tone of their voice, the quickness of their step, the sparkle in their eyes, the quickness of their decisions clearly mark them as a person who knows exactly what they want and is determined to get it, no matter how long it may take or what price they must pay.
They never blame others for their mistakes, no matter if they deserve the blame.
They are an inspiration to all who come into contact with their mind.
The major distinguishing feature of the non-drifter is this: They have a mind of their own and they use it for all purposes.
It is important to understand the major fundamental cause of drifting, so that we can begin to reverse it and begin the process of becoming a non-drifter. Hypnotic rhythm is a law of nature; anything that is done repeatedly will become ingrained into your being. All of our minor negative habits, if left unchecked for too long, will become permanent and eventually spiral into increasingly more detrimental habits at an accelerated rate. Conversely, minor good habits, if maintained long enough, will also become permanent. Following the same hypnotic rhythm, these minor good habits will spiral into increasingly greater habits. If we fail to make hypnotic rhythm work in our favor, we will constantly be sucked down into the never-ending whirlpool of drifting.
Hypnotic rhythm is the virus through which the disease of drifting spreads. The sooner we decide to escape the hypnotic rhythm, the easier it is to break. The longer we ignore our hypnotic rhythm, the faster we are sucked down into the whirlpool of drifting and the more difficult it becomes to escape.
If you want to read more about drifting in depth, check out Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill, which was our main source of knowledge for this topic. The vital information is presented in an incredibly unique way, where the author “uncovers” the secrets of non-drifting through a symbolic interview with the devil. The devil equates drifting with sins worthy of condemnation to hell. This book was written in the 1930’s and published in 2011, mainly because of potentially controversial religious ideas. The content in this book is presented using religious overtones, but religion is not a prerequisite for this book. A good amount of material covered in various self-improvement books is similar. The framing method for this information refreshingly stands out and helps “raise the stakes” of fighting your way out of the whirlpool of drifting.