The Difference?

Life is long enough it's just a matter of what we do with that life. 

How is it that some people, having lived much shorter lives, managed to accomplish so much? Did they simply not think in such terms or were they driven by some inner flame that was completely out of their control? There must be some sort of psychological illness involved in accomplishing so much in one life. What drives individuals to churn out a lengthy list of accomplishments? It must be the case that just as deviant behavior can have a cause, the accomplishment of what appear to be worthy goals also has a cause. Something drives that effort that is out of the individual's control. Which is not to say that thing can't be acquired. The question is what is that thing? Is there success that is driven by negatives and another type of success that is driven by positives. 

What truly is the profile of an individual that accomplishes much? What is the thing that drives them to achieve so much? Another question: why does that negative thing drive some towards horrible failure while it drives other towards what we perceive to be incredible success? Where does that "thing" come from? Some people break and die while others become stronger. There must be some outlook on life that separates the two. Grit? Having a center that continues regardless of the outcome of our efforts. Some fail once and fall away, while other fail a thousand times and continue on. Perhaps it comes down to how we see failure? How we learned to see failure? Does failure make us weaker, or does it make us stronger? Is that grit?