A BURNING desire is one of the most important success factors; perhaps the first key to success. To have desire is one thing, but to have a burning desire is another thing entirely. All success stories begin with a burning desire. The extent to which you succeed in any endeavour is largely influenced by certain success factors, and in this case – the intensity of your desire. Your desire for what you want to achieve must be so strong that you would find it hard to sleep at night; you literally lose sleep over it. It becomes such an obsession that it dominates your thinking, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. If you can’t get that wound up about something, it’s only lukewarm — not really a burning desire.
As a key to success, a burning desire is intense and urgent as opposed to something that is nice to have, like desiring an ice cream. It is to success what rocket propellant is to a rocket engine. It is a burning desire that propels a person into action. A burning desire is creative power that HAS to manifest or express itself in the external world. It is an emotional force that attracts. The emotion attached to your desire moves you towards your desired outcome and magnetically draws your desired outcome towards you. A burning desire has a sense of desperation to it and, as an ingredient of success, it is comparable to air, the most basic element for life’s sustenance.
A Student’s Quest for Success
A student went to his spiritual teacher and said, ‘Guru, I want to experience success. How can I become successful quickly?’ The teacher smiled and said, ‘All right, I’ll teach you the secret of success. Meet me at the Ganges River at 5:00 am tomorrow.’
The next morning the student showed up at 5:00 am at the appointed place only to fi nd his teacher already bathing in the river. The teacher beckoned the student to come into the water and join him. Keen to learn the secret of success, the student obeyed the teacher without question.
The teacher then put his hand on the student’s head and firmly held it under the water. Gasping for air, the student struggled to get out, but the teacher maintained his grip keeping him under the water for more than a minute. The teacher knew the precise moment he had to release his grip on the student. Coughing up water that he had swallowed, the student angrily demanded, ‘Why did you do that?’
The teacher then said, ‘Before I answer your question, tell me: what were you thinking of under the water? What was it that you were looking for? Success? Status? Wealth?’
‘None of that, sir. I desperately wanted air. Nothing, but air.’
The teacher then said, ‘If you want success in your life as desperately as you wanted that breath of air, then you will have it — and as quickly as you want.’
Whatever it is you want, it must be personal; it must be something that you really, really want for yourself, not for anybody else. It is said that the hand will not reach for what the heart does not long for.
Ultimately, your want will come down to a feeling, a feeling that will ‘turn you on’ and motivate you to take effective action the moment you get up in the morning. If it does not do that for you, then as soon as you encounter a significant challenge, you will say it is too hard and give up on your dream. To be regarded as a burning desire, on a scale of 1 to 100, your goal or desired outcome must be ranked at 100. A ranking of 80 or 90 on the scale just won’t cut it. Even a goal that is ranked 99 on the scale is not good enough.
It must be 100!
Let’s use an analogy. If you heated water to 99° C, you could make a great cup of tea. But, if you heated that water just one more degree to 100° C, it will boil and generate steam, and you know what you can do with enough steam: move a steamship or a locomotive. That one degree makes a huge difference.
For you to achieve your goal, you must literally be steaming with emotion to:
You can tell how badly you want to achieve your goal by observing your actions each day. When you have a burning desire for something, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. If you don’t have a “Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!” attitude, it’s an indication you haven’t hit 100 on the scale.
Achieving your goal has little to do with your ability or intellect. It has to do with HEARTFELT DESIRE! Genuine desire is powerful! As mentioned before it is one of the most important success factors. It focuses attention, establishes commitment and empowers you to deal with any challenge you might encounter as you move towards your goal.
As you are driven forward by your desire, you’ll hardly notice the effort. You’ll develop new skills and abilities, new beliefs, new attitudes and behaviours, and a new sense of self — in fact, a whole new consciousness!
You are what your deep driving desire is;
As your deep driving desire is, so is your will;
As your will is so is your deed;
As your deed is so is your destiny.
~ Maitri Upanishads
This is an extract from The Inexplicable Laws of Success [Classic Edition] by Virend and Verusha Singh (a dad and daughter team). Check out the customer reviews and download your copy here: http://bit.ly/1orbpn1
Virend Singh is a personal development junkie with an MBA, a successful entrepreneur and a graduate of the ‘school of hard knocks’. Verusha Singh is passionate about cats and creative writing, and has a bachelor’s degree in Media and Writing and a post-graduate qualification in Editing and Publishing.