OBSESSION – What You Might Not Know

Dear lovely people,

Lets talk obsession. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines obsession as “a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling.” Obsession is usually looked upon as an unhealthy complex, however, I strongly think that obsession needn’t be unhealthy. In fact, finding a healthy obsession is what most people will characterize as a purpose for living. I know three types of people, those who don’t have a purpose in life and don’t think they should on the one side and those who are either searching for their purpose and passion in life or they are already living it. That is exactly what a healthy obsession provides. I must tell you that obsession is the key to become greatly successful in any field.

The hard but most important step you must take as a person on the quest for success is to find a healthy obsession. It should be one that you are extremely passionate about and that not only benefits you, but also others. One criteria I use as a precondition to engage into any venture is to find out exactly how it will benefit me, my family and my community. Some people argue that it is enough to find a passion that is entirely self-seeking, but people with such beliefs usually end up delinquents. You just have to find an obsession that will make you happy and that will somehow improve the lives of others and you will never feel guilty about having it. Being obsessed is the only way to become truly successful, to come out ahead of the game and to lead in your field. Obsession sets the leaders and pacesetters from the followers.

Even when you are at the height of obsession, you must watch out for the pessimists, they are always around you, looking for ways to destroy your motivation. They will tell you “You can’t do that” “No one has ever done that before.” “It is totally impossible.” “You are out of your mind.” They use those statements as a weapon to keep you from achieving what you really want to achieve. The person thirsty for success, however, says: “Watch me.”

Obsession serves as a much needed ignition to launch you into burning the potential energy in you through informed actions to move your dreams through. You get the point, dynamite for example, contains a lot of energy. But unless a spark ignites it, it won’t explode. Life also has its ignition points. There are many pursuits that require a minimum threshold of effort to make any improvement at all. Getting over that activation hurdle is often the hardest part.

I do observe the lives of successful people a lot and I have come to realize that what makes successful people successful is not just that they take bold or even strange risks. It’s not that they work harder or do things better than everyone else. What makes people succeed is obsession. Successful people make it because they find their passion and become obsessed with it. 

On the other side, the failure-prone people, find something that they are passionate about, but for whatever reason choose not to ignite the dynamite within them. Such people often have one of the most misconceived belief: that once you find what you are passionate about the rest of your life unfolds for you. No sweat, no gain and so nothing just happens. You have to make it happen. Without any effort you will never achieve results.

By finding something that you are passionate about and then setting your priorities straight, you will arrive at the point of clear understanding. You come to understand that the only rational thing to do is to spend time on what you are passionate about, what you love, and not on those things that mean less to you. Then it’s only a matter of forcing yourself to put in the work hours and what you focus on, becomes reality.