Whether you love 'em or let 'em drive you crazy, we all know people who seem to have unending motivation to make the absolute most out of every minute of every day. At work. At Play. Without prompting or prodding, they always have energy for growing, discovering, changing, creating.

What is it about those people? What makes them so self-directed? So inspired?

After years of wrestling with these questions, Gerry Sexton* and I think we figured out there are six traits -- six invisible assets -- that seem to distinguish people who are so successful in taking personal responsibility for their learning, their careers, and the motivation for always making things better.

Self-directed people:

1. Work and live with an underlying sense of purpose. The meaning of their lives goes beyond responsibilities and job descriptions. They're guided by passion. There is something important that calls them, and they listen
2. Never surrender the art of dreaming and re-dreaming. No matter how many bills there are to pay or kids to put through college, they keep chasing ideas and ideals. Dreams are the voice of the soul. Those who listen never forget how to inspire themselves.
3. Focus on their gifts. Amazing people seem to know their success depends on focusing on what they do best.
4. See themselves as volunteers, not victims.They own their choices -- and the consequences their choices deliver. They understand that any change in their future begins with their own decisions and actions.
5. Act despite fears. Uncertainty and change are inevitable, but being immobilized by them is not. Initiating action -- any small action -- sets into motion events that don't happen without the courage to begin.
6. Thrive on interdependence. There aren't that many truly great things we can accomplish alone. Self-directed people, even as self-motivated as they are, know at times they have to trust, collaborate with, and rely upon others.

Working with business leaders over the years, we've also wrestled with whether this stuff can be bottled. Can it be taught?

Maybe a better approach is to think about uncorking what already exists. This stuff is in all of us... somewhere. What dreams can be tapped? What gifts can be better expressed? What purpose can be clarified? What can be done to cut through the fog that working for a living can create so these invisible traits regain their shape and color? That clarity, it seems, is what delivers the courage and commitment to keep on growing.

Make a Difference,

Brian
BLOG: Brian@GrowthWorks -- Life, Learning & Leadership

*Gerry Sexton is my partner at GrowthWorks and my co-author of Leading Innovation: Creating Workplaces Where People Excel So Organizations Thrive.