Arena of Mind
Md. Tabrej, Asst Prof, Dept of BBA
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Jakhama
Once when Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple and Pixar) was asked during an interview, how he managed to reach the top as a successful business person, Steve Jobs replied with a single word, "Drive!"
All great success first begins with an idea, but what makes idea become reality is the fuel of human desire. An idea, by itself can give you a temporary feeling of inspiration, but burning desire is what gets you through the necessary preparation to overcome the obstacles along the way.
Those with an intense burning desire to achieve their goals are often referred to as being "Driven." But, is this special quality reserved only for a privileged few? Certainly not! With the right approach, anyone can cultivate a deep burning desire within them and move to a state of total commitment, knowing with certainty that success is as inevitable as the sunrise.
So how do you cultivate a burning desire? Here are some tips to inculcate a burning desire to achieve any goal you set for yourself:
1. Burn the ships: If your goals are really important enough for you, then you can start by burning the proverbial ships, such that you have no choice but to press on. For instance, soldiers fight the most ferocious battle, when they believe they're fighting to death. A good General knows that while attacking an opposing force, it’s important to create the illusion of a potential escape route for the enemy, so they won't fight hard. What escape routes are you keeping open that are causing you not to fight hard?
If you don't burn those ships, you are sending the message to your subconscious mind that it's ok to quit. When the going gets tough, as it inevitably does for any worthwhile goal, you will quit. If you really want to achieve your goals, then you've got to burn those ships to the ground, and scatter the ashes. If you're thinking that the average person won't do this, you're right, that's why they are average.
2. Surround yourself with positive people: Make friends with people who will encourage you on the path to your goals. Share your goals only with people who will support you, not those who will respond with cynicism or indifference. I once read that you can see your future just by looking at the six people with whom you spend the most time. If you don't like what you see, then change those people. There's no honor in remaining loyal to people who expect you to fail.
3. Take immediate action: Once you set a goal for yourself, act immediately. One of the secrets to success is recognizing that motivation follows action. The momentum of continuous action fuels motivation, while procrastination kills motivation. So act boldly, that it's impossible to fail.
4. Focus: Norman Jewson, the Oscar winning film maker said “You need to focus and concentrate towards your goal”. Many people don’t focus, they dabble. That’s fine to start, but to succeed you really need to focus on your goal or else your energy and time will be scattered and wasted.
5. Push and Believe: Richard Branson the founder of Virgin Airlines said “Whatever you are doing in life, you need to push yourself to the limit and need to believe”. You need to push through your shyness, through your self doubt and need to believe that you can achieve it. If you are not pushing and believing yourself then the world will not believe in you.
6. Persist: You need to persist through time. There is no overnight success. Larry Page the co-founder of Google said “It takes a long time to do things and success is equivalent to the amount of time you put into it”. You need to persist through CRAP (Criticism, Rejection, Adversity and Prejudice). You need to persist through failure, because all successful people somewhere have failed in their lives. You really have to persist because it won’t be easy and there will be failures. You need to pick yourself up, stay on course, and continue down that path.
If you keep adding fuel to your desire, you will reach the point of knowing that you'll never quit, and ultimate success will be nothing more than a matter of time.
If you apply these strategies, you'll add so much fuel to your desire that the fire will never burn out. You'll move towards your goal like a guided missile to its target, and find ways to enjoy the process because you'll be so focused on the positive rewards instead of the difficulty in the task. If you get enough positive energy flowing into you, you'll soon have positive results flowing out of you and eventually you’ll become the kind of person that others refer to as "Driven."
THANK YOU.
