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?

There are Greener Pastures Out There

Dear Living People,

 

For those of us who grew up in the rural world, you know how beautiful it is looking at a distant hill at the start of the wet season. It’s so green and you wish you could get there to enjoy the greenery. Its only when you get there that you realize though as smooth and beautiful as it appears from afar, there are ugly spaces and incongruencies when you get closer; such is life.

 

I often hear some people say that “there are no greener pastures.” Geographically, that might be true as I said earlier but when it comes to the quest for success, I beg to differ.  It might not be working out right with you especially as some of the things you touch seem to melt away; you may have a crummy job characterized by poor pay and sluggish co-workers who bore you nuts. I tell you, there really are greener pastures out there!  If you are in a dead, lifeless relationship with someone you plan to marry and who care less about you and your worth, then I assure you, there is a greener pasture you can find. 

 

The biggest challenge to most people who are in such situations becomes how to find it?  How can you know if you should abandon what you’ve got especially when it’s said that winners never quit? Should you find yourself in a dilemma about whether to leave a situation or not, you might want to reflect along the following lines…

Are you your own biggest problem (dried-up pasture)?  Maybe you could have a great relationship and you are the lifeless one.  Maybe other people are able to find great reward in your same job and it’s really about you.  Since it’s tough to really know for sure, I think the best place to start is by working on your present situation to see how you can make it better.  I had a friend who told me I shouldn’t have any problem making my current pasture green since I was so full of fertilizer.

 

Are you moving towards what you want or away from what you don’t want?  Assuming you’ve put a legitimate effort into making the most out of your present situation and you still feel you want to leave, this question can bring great clarity.  The problem is, if I’m moving away from what I don’t want, I tend to recreate it somewhere else.  For example, “the last boss I worked with was such a bad news; I just want a new job or a new boss who has his heart in systems and co-workers.”  This isn’t the best way to set the bar for what you’re shopping for and you’ll probably pick another boss or job that is a bigger mess.

 

We've all taken on tasks we didn't enjoy. Most of us have at least once in our lifetime undertaken employment that was not to our liking. I have done it. I knew initially it wasn't my dream job, but I was quite willing to put the hours in due to my ambitions. After a year, I started to look for another form of occupation. It had taken me one year to realize that this was what I wanted and to want it enough to do something about it. It wasn't just the employer who didn't support me; it was also my choice of occupation that was letting me down.

 

I really had no drive for what I was doing. This was obvious. That year, I was full of raw energy and rose beyond expectation in terms of performance, then I hit a brick wall. I no longer topped the performance chart as I realized my job suddenly was more of a boring routine, countered my standards and my personal beliefs. Subsequently, I trod water for another good year or so before I fully convinced myself that the organization held no future for me. You stand a better chance of creating a greener pasture if you get clear about what you really want, rather than focusing on what you don’t want.

 

If you, during your employment, realize that there is no future for you at what you're doing and take appropriate action, then you are reacting to your circumstances positively. Such action may involve additional training in an area of interest to you. The difference here is that you are learning and reacting based on your interests.

 

Naturally, if you aren't 100% sure as to what makes you tick, then you will need to experiment with things that are of possible interest to you. If you like it, then you do more of it. If it doesn't rate as highly as you would otherwise like, then go onto other pastures.

Pastures on the other side may not always be as green as they first appeared or as we like. Nevertheless, we must have a look and see. If not, then we'll wander over to another patch of grass and see if we like it or not. Doing so gives us an opportunity to grow as people. We expose ourselves to possibilities that may have remained closed off, had we waited in the same pasture for the farmer to deliver what he thought we wanted. New doors are opening. Creativity is awakening as we experience a variety of new options.

It doesn't matter if the pasture we choose is drier than the one we know so well. We simply move on to a new one, assess it and act accordingly. You owe it to yourself to open as many doors as you can. For it is this way you can choose more wisely. You will be widening your understanding and harnessing the strength of your increased knowledge. Knowledge is king.

You may be content with things as they are now, but if you don't have a look on the other side you may never know how much better off you may have been...

 

May you be blessed with green in all your pastures

The Pull and Push of life

Dear loving people,

 

I can firmly say that nobody came into this world with the least intention to remain a resolute failure or to live a mediocre life. Everybody wants to succeed in the things they do. You want to be the best a true Christian, the best banker, geologist etc. The greatest question is; what accounts for the different results we witness every day? Why do some succeed where others have failed? Apart from the attitude, determination, focus explanations that we’ve been told accounts for much of this difference, is there some other explanation to this?

 

The Pull and push we are subjected to in life as a result of a catalog of reasons may offer another explanation. SANJAY in an article – the push-pull of life says…

“In the journey of passing through the life, we are being lured with many temptations. Some good, some bad. There are times when you can’t judge what’s right & what’s wrong for you. You tend to move on with the flow, the pull of the events, the pull of the people around you. But as we know & understand, nothing lasts forever. The experiences you have passed through, the actions you have taken, the behaviour you have conducted; seem to be standing at crossroads with your own self. You regret some, you embrace some, and you smile at some. The ones who create a sad feeling in within you are the ones which remain as ghost images and follow you like a shadow.

 It’s important to release these threads, the bindings, by making truce with the people, the events, the actions attached with such emotions. Unless you can make yourself completely detached & feel pleasantly released, you may not experience & live your life with the same passion, zeal & strongly positive emotions. The only way to break out of such negative formations, is to enter into mutually pardonable situations & make peace with the people, events & actions; responsible for such formations.

 

Viktor Frank said that “Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.” Possession is an example of a drive; we are often driven to have more. Some are driven to have more toys. I mean, we always have to have the latest. You can’t just imagine the number of people who are into this kind of deal. Popularity is yet another, we are driven to be popular. We are driven just to go along with the crowd. We are driven to see how many people know us and how many people we are known by. We are driven to be famous

 

Viktor Frank continues to say that “Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.” That is it, that is where we begin to differ, that is where the differentiation in the amount of success we each register takes place.

 

In facing the challenges we come across daily, we factor in talents, character, motivation etc. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.” Your experience in facing the challenges that come your way as you move up your ladder of success shapes your character.

 

In all that you do, remember to keep the words of Hamilton Wright Mabie

“The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; the question is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young man ceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks his conditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success.”

 

Still Life in the song – The Push and the Pull sings…

 

“I feel this empty like bullets deep inside me. I made a chair a place to dig them out. I drove these answers through my hands like nails to fill what I don't understand

And the days fell like sand. Leaving scars where they land.

Kept inside we build ourselves of stone.

Without shame without pride, even stone is broken in time

And my chair my place has long since turned to sand.

 

Without shame without pride, even stone is broken in time

And the truths I’ve known have all since turned to lies

All will be forgotten

I feel the sun against my skin

Alive. All will fall in time

We were born out of dust only to return

Make of this what you will, but reap what you sew

Nothing”

Your Life is a Giant Project! Manage It

Dear loving people,

We live in a world where many of us are highly trained by corporations and organizations that we support on a day to day basis. The biggest question is; how many of us end up using that training to accomplish and manage everything in our lives? As a person aiming for the best, what are your goals and aspirations?  What are your dreams?  As a Project Manager, one of my objectives through Living Lectures is to enable you to create your next project or your next educational achievement, we are there to provide you with the tools that you need to manage your life as a Project so you can accomplish what you want to accomplish in this lifetime. Hang on as I give you a sketchy rundown of what we can do together…

To begin with, you need to Plan your work and work your plan. To do this, you will have to EMPLOY the most precious resource on this planet to manage your plan. “Who can that be?” I guess if your obvious question. Well, that person can only be YOU of all persons. Sounds kind of crazy isn’t it?

Once on board, it’s imperative to get really organized. You MUST eliminate clutter, create a new space and attract peace, abundance and fulfillment into your life.  You will have to free that lurking feeling of stress and overwhelm and leapfrog on all your projects. The most important question to ask yourself is, “what can I do today, this week, this month, this year, to get my life going in the direction I desire?"

If you truly believe that there is more to you than meets the eye, stop making excuses, and start living your best life today! If you are either on the verge of giving up, or are sick and tired of being mediocre, you can make a decision to start winning, by casting a YES vote in your favor today!

You don’t have to continue being stuck in that groove or being harassed by feelings of under achievement! Believe in yourself, you can make something of your life. Just don’t give up!

Considering that we are talking of you becoming the most valued Project Manager of your own life’s project, there are five (5) most important life management questions you have to come to grips with:

1.     What?

What do you want to do with your life? This is probably one of the most important questions that you will ever answer. The answer to this question will lay the foundation for your destiny. Once you have clearly identified what you want to do with your life, it then becomes the focal point of everything you plan to do. Knowing what you want to do, gives you clarity and a much needed sense of purpose. It also prevents you from engaging in side tracking, time wasting ventures which have no connection to your purpose.

2.   Why?

Understanding the importance of why you want to achieve certain things in your life, is the motivation that will drive you to accomplish the goals that you have set for yourself. Why do you want to achieve these goals you have set for yourself? Why do you want to get married? Why do you want to start your own business? Why do you want to boost your self-esteem? The answers to these questions must be compelling enough to move you into action.

 

3.   Who?

In order for you to achieve certain things, you need to take on certain qualities. Who do you need to become as you strive to achieve your goal? Do you need to become more confident, committed and action oriented? Do you need to become a risk taker? Do you need to be more assertive? Identify the qualities that you need to adopt in order for you to achieve your goals. Max Dupree rightly said that “We cannot become what we need to be, by remaining what we are."

 

4.   How?

How are you going to manage your life as a project? How are you planning on achieving your objectives? Do you have a step by step plan? Certain tools need to be in place to help you tie together all the pieces of the project you plan to accomplish. Having a plan is very important because it is the road map to your goal. It will help you know what information you require to make each phase of your life a success. For example, if you want to get start a business, how do you plan to start it? If plan A fails what is plan B?

 

5.    When?

Every goal you set must have a deadline and any plan you have, must cease from just being a plan, turn into action and produce tangible results. When are you going to be done with at least one specific goal you have set out to accomplish? When are you going to wrap up the project?

 

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.” Your life is a giant project who’s only qualified Project Manager is you. If you want your plans to materialize, start taking action today!

 

Remember: At Living Lectures, we have an extraordinary ability to listen to you and to recreate your communication in ways that build alignment with your aspirations. Our weekly coaching calls can be a major support to you. Use them as times of assessment and celebration of success. They can equally help you to create new approaches and possibilities in each performance breakdown you encounter. Our coaching can enable you learn to get back in integrity with your commitments by building on the insight and fulfilling on the promises made from learning rather than engaging in complaints and excuses. 

GIVE US A CALL TODAY.