Full Idea
'Conatus' [translated as 'striving' by Curley] is used by early modern philosophers, including Thomas Hobbes (a major influence of Spinoza), to express the notion of a thing's endeavour for what is advantageous to it. It drives all things in nature.
Gist of Idea
Hobbes and Spinoza use 'conatus' to denote all endeavour for advantage in nature
Source
Beth Lord (Spinoza's Ethics [2010], p.88)
Book Reference
Lord,Beth: 'Spinoza's Ethics' [Indiana 2010], p.88
A Reaction
I think it is important to connect conatus to Nietzsche's talk of a plurality of 'drives', which are an expression of the universal will to power (which is seen even in the interactions of chemistry). Conatus is also in Leibniz.