Success

How Much Do You Want Success?

There's a story of a young man who heard of a great teacher
who knew all the secrets of life. The teacher lived deep in
the woods and the young man went in search of him. When
young man found the teacher, he eagerly exclaimed, "Teach me
wisdom! I would give anything to be wise." The old teacher
silently stood and led the student to a nearby lake. Walking
into the water until they both stood waist-deep, the old man
suddenly grabbed the student's head and thrust him under the
water.

At first, the young man thought it was a strange joke, but
he quickly began to panic and started fighting for release.
As the moments passed, the young man fought harder and
harder, finally struggling with all his strength to force
the old teacher to let him up. He jerked his head above
water, gasped for air, and stared at the crazy old teacher
in disbelief. When he could speak, he screamed, "What's the
matter with you? Why did you do that?!" Calmly, the old man
replied, "When you desire wisdom as much as you desired that
next breath of air, you will find it."

Many of us desire success but are not clear about why or how
badly we want it.

Last week, I wrote about the importance of clearly defining
success so we recognize it when our opportunity arrives.
It's vital that our definition of success be clear in our
minds. You can't hit a target you can't see or haven't
defined. You can read more about that at:
http://PhilipHumbert.com/TIPS

This week, I want to focus on the necessity of knowing why
and how badly we want to achieve our desired outcome.

Many people dream or wish, hope or fantasize about success,
but also hope it won't require too much of them. They would
like a major promotion, but prefer not to work the long
hours or master the skills to obtain it. They would like to
start a business, achieve wealth or fitness, improve their
personal relationships or achieve some other type of success
but they are reluctant to pay the price because they aren't
sure exactly why or how badly they want it.

Think about that! We all have dreams or wishes and that's
fine! Dreams and hopes, fantasies and desires are good
things. They entertain us, relieve stress, even give us the
illusion that we have "goals" without requiring that we risk
or change very much. As long as we are clear about the
distinction between highly desired GOALS and vaguely desired
wishes, there's nothing wrong with hoping.

I'll go out on a limb and make this generalization, knowing
that it does not apply to everyone or every situation. Here
it is: Most people's most important GOAL is to preserve what
they currently have and minimize their risk of losing
anything important to them. Most people put greater value
and priority on keeping what's familiar and comfortable than
they do on achieving their definition of "success." Again,
there's nothing wrong with that, and it makes sense.

We may not be rich, but we fear poverty. We may not be
famous, but we do not want to become the subject of
ridicule. We may not have the home, car, income or other
things we desire, but we don't want to lose what we have.
That's human nature and in many ways, it's healthy. Don't be
embarrassed about that!

But moving up the ladder of success means leaving our
current situation behind. It often requires some risk.
It certainly requires some change in skills, behavior,
attitudes or how we use our time. "If you do what you've
always done, you'll get what you've always gotten."

It's vital to know WHAT you want (see last week's article)
and WHY and how badly you want it. It's vital to be clear
about what you'll do or change, learn or risk to achieve
your goals. And while success rarely "costs" as much as we
fear it might, it always costs something and the price must
be paid in full, and in advance.

To run a marathon, you must put in the time and miles of
training. To build a business you must master the skills,
take the risks, put in the hours, invest your savings and do
the things that are required. Wishing and hoping, dreaming
and talking "a good game" won't get it done. Ultimately, you
must do the work, and that requires clear and compelling
REASONS to get up every morning and pursue your destiny.

Many people claim they "would do it" if they had the right
opportunity or could see a way to "get there," but as Jim
Rohn observed, usually the "how" doesn't appear until we
have sufficient reasons. "Reasons come first, solutions
comes second."

When you want success as badly as you would fight for a
breath of air or to save your child's life, or to save (or
create) your own life, you will find a way.

Why, and how badly, do you want success?