Chasing vs. Running: The Source of Our Drive

🏗 Frameworks for Everything 🏗

Takeaway: Before committing to any goal, personal or professional, ask yourself: Am I chasing something I want, or running from something I fear? The answer changes everything about the journey that follows.

People often comment on my energy and drive. Sometimes it comes as admiration, sometimes curiosity, and occasionally even envy. The truth is, I’ve carried this drive for many years—ever since I reshaped my ambitions back in high school.

Only recently did I start asking: where does it actually come from?

The Anxious Overachiever

There’s a new phrase in popular psychology: the anxious overachiever, someone who pursues endless accomplishments to quiet an undercurrent of anxiety. When I first heard it, I felt oddly seen.

That constant push I’ve relied on wasn’t born purely from ambition or joy. It often came from the fear of inadequacy, the compulsion to run faster so those feelings couldn’t catch me. And to be fair, this has worked: it’s fueled a career I’m proud of, countless achievements I truly wanted. But it’s also driven me into burnout more than once.

So the question became: when does drive serve us, and when does it consume us?

Chasing vs. Running

The framework I’ve landed on is simple: are you chasing something, or running away from it?

For much of my life, I was running away from not feeling enough. Each new success helped silence that voice, but it was never permanent. I’d just run faster. No real destination, only escape.

Other times, though, I was chasing something real. When I trained for a half Ironman, it wasn’t to prove myself. It was because I wanted that identity—to be the kind of person who took on that challenge. The drive was the same, but the meaning was entirely different.

One version depletes you. The other sustains you.

Why the Distinction Matters

This lens, chasing vs. running, matters because it shapes the trade-offs we’re willing to make.

When you’re chasing something aligned with your identity, the sacrifices feel worth it. Passing on late nights out with friends to train for a race doesn’t sting if it connects to a deeper sense of self.

But when you’re running, those same trade-offs turn hollow. Declining time with people I care about just to keep grinding at work, without any deeper “why”, wasn’t building me up. It was only keeping fear at bay, temporarily.

Designing Goals with Intention

This connects directly to goal setting. In product design, the choice of which goal to pursue is often more strategic than the steps to achieve it. The same applies in life.

Before deconstructing tasks or building systems, we need to ask: am I chasing something meaningful, or just running away from fear?

That question doesn’t eliminate overwork, or magically balance ambition and rest. But it does bring clarity. It helps separate the goals that truly deserve our energy from the ones that will drain it.