Success starts with desire, and we will start this new series by examining how to use it to live the life of our choosing. Over the next three months, I will share many of the lessons I learned from the fantastic book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich. I urge all of you to get it and read it, as it’s one of the best books to help you focus your goals and live a better, more fulfilling life.In the book, Hill presents 13 principles to help guide you to a successful life. While growing rich can mean monetary gain, it can also mean having the highest quality of life possible.
Each week, over the next 13 weeks, I will share one principle and provide some practical advice for implementing each one into your daily life. Some of the other principles you can look forward to reading about include faith, imagination, decision, persistence, transmutation, and the brain. I think you’ll find it to be an illuminating series.If you’re looking for specific ways to integrate the principles you’ll be reading about, I'm more than happy to discuss a situation where I can serve as your coach. Sometimes, you just need that individual attention to build a plan and get it in motion. I’d be honored if you’d consider me as your guide in that journey.
Principle #1: Desire
Desire drives your success, but what prompts your desire to move? Nearly everybody walking this earth would say they want to be successful in one way or another, but the vast majority don’t have the burning desire to the take risks and make the changes necessary to achieve success.If you want more out of life, it stands to reason that you believe things are lacking. You can focus on overcoming this shortfall, but the Law of Attraction states if you do that, you’ll begin to need more things. What you must do instead is focus on your desire.Wanting, wishing, and focusing on what is lacking will not change anything; it will just make you more frustrated about the state of things. At best, you’ll end up with mere creature comforts and minimum financial security.What you must do is nurture your desire into action. Consider it to be a fire burning within you. You have to add fuel to that fire until it results in a response, and setting your goals and sticking to them to reach your dreams – no matter what – is that fuel.
The Desire Within Me
Growing up as a boy, I cultivated the desire for a better life. Not only did I want to make a good life for myself, I also desired to inspire and empower others. Additionally, I’ve always believed one should not leave this earth without making some contribution; and when I finally finished high school, I was blessed to move to America where I could pursue my ambitions.However, success wasn't as easy as just getting into the US. I had to learn English, and I spent months trying to get a job. When I did get one, I worked in housekeeping cleaning hotel rooms – not my dream. However, I had taken another step that could get me where I wanted to go as long as I continued to feed the desire that propelled my action.Now, I know each of you has that one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish. What have you been doing about it? Do you wake up every morning hoping it would happen? As I explained in the above paragraph, I was willing to do whatever it took to make my dream a reality. Sometimes, one has to be willing to go the extra mile to accomplish a dream.
Examining the Desires of Role Models
People like Martin Luther King Jr., John McCain, and several others may be gone physically, but they are still among us through their work. They left behind such a great legacy that people continue to talk about what they accomplished while they were alive. Like these role models, my desire has always been to leave my mark on this earth long after I’m gone, too.My burning desire to inspire and empower others helped me join the U.S. Navy, where I’m currently serving. The goals that fueled my desire helped me start a great blog where an inspiring and empowering article is published weekly; it also propelled me to start a coaching business, where I have personally coached dozens to fulfill their desires.And pretty soon, my first book will be released.I tell you this because I envisioned having this type of global impact as a young boy in Haiti, and I turned my dream into reality.How?I nurtured my desire into action by setting goals and never giving up. I know for sure I’m not done making an impact; these actions I'm taking now are simply the beginning of something bigger.Having shared all that, I'd like you to think about how you are making an impact now.
Following Your Desire
Here are a few tips and suggestions to get that fire of desire inside of you burning so brightly that you have to take action:
1. Remind Yourself Constantly
If you desire to be a stand-up comedian, cut out pictures of your favorite comedians and put them in visible places. Do the same thing if you want to lose weight. It’s easy to minimize your desire when it’s not at the front of your mind and in your face at all times.
2. Burn Your Bridges
It may sound drastic, but comfort and security hold you back. Want to start your own business? You’ve got to quit your current job first. Want to quit smoking? Offer $100 to anyone who catches you with a cigarette – and pay up if you get caught. You need to remove all comfort zones.
3. Find Mentors and Positive People
You don’t need to be around people who drag you down. You only want those in your life who will be cheerleaders, boosting you up and moving you forward.In last week's blog, "Tips to Narrow The Identity Gap," we talked about connecting yourself with people who cheer you on to bridge the identity gap. Positive energy influences everything for the better, and surrounding yourself with positive people makes life enjoyable.As a life coach and mentor, I have helped several people target their goals to move their desires into actions that get results—and if you're looking for this kind of coaching, I'd like to help you, too.