Develop a Burning Desire, Overcome Mediocrity to Succeed

Dear loving people,

I often talk about developing a burning desire if you really want success in whatever you do. A secondary school child asked me one day what exactly this burning desire I talk of means. I guess a whole lot of people need an answer to the same question.

Let’s get to what it’s not first; a burning desire is not the same as what you wish or want. A burning desire is something that is a MUST for you. You cannot live without it. Imagine for a second that you’ve been lost in a pathless forest for a week with and no food. You’ve become so hungry and weak that you expect to die any moment from hunger. Suddenly you saw a monkey jumping around with a bunch of bananas. By all odds, you will do all it takes to get hold of that bunch of bananas even if it means killing the money right? That is how far your desire can take you.

Still not clear? Ok, another example. Assume that you are walking by a deep pool and mistakenly fall into it and you have no idea of swimming. It occurs to you that you are about drowning, now, will you go thinking “Oh, I don’t know how to swim. If only I knew to swim, I won’t be dying now". Honestly, you will spring into motion to save yourself! Why? Because you want to live; life has become a burning desire in you.

I know people who want power at all cost and can do anything to come to and remain in power. Many other people want to be millionaires, but most of them won’t achieve it because it is not a must for them. If something is a must for you, you will do whatever it takes to get it. This is the burning desire that you need if you want to succeed in life. Success never comes easily; you have to spend a lot of time and effort on it.

There was once a King who wanted to conquer an island. He ordered his military General to handle the task providing him with 100 men to fight an army of 1,000 soldiers guarding the island. To the consternation of his men when they got to the shores of the Island, the General burned down all the ships that carried them and told his men that the only way to get back home alive was for them to win the war. In doing this, he left his men with no choice but to win the war and they did win the war in the end. I learned from this anecdote that when you want something and want it so badly, you will achieve it. You just have to make your goals to become a must for you with a burning desire to achieve.

If your goals are not a must for you, the moment you face problems and feel frustrated, you will give up. On the other hand, if your goals are a must, you will do whatever it takes to achieve them.

But then, armed with the right goals and a burning desire to succeed, you equally have to recognize an existing abyss between mediocrity and success. Many people are not aware of its existence and that alone is a major hindrance. The minute you become interested in either one, the other looms large in your thinking.  Each is relevant to performance and consistency in attaining the required level of performance that guarantees success.

It is common to find people whose performance and standards are mediocre and less common to find people whose performance and standards are consistently successful.  

Pamela, a successful Sales Manager, is speaking with her staff about sales targets.  She wants to challenge them to try a little harder, as the Christmas buying season is coming on and the most positive selling climate for the year about to start. But Pamela has been working with her present staff for some months, and knows from experience that, whatever target is set, the staff will meet that target – but definitely NOT exceed.  For some reason when the target is almost achieved, the staff rest on their laurels with just enough effort left to take them to the target – but no way do they ever attempt to exceed the target.

Are these people bound for success?