How to develop a burning desire

A burning desire is that fire in your belly that keeps you moving forward when you\’re faced with challenges and obstacles.  It is when your accountant has embezzled funds, your babysitter has quit, your virtual assistance has walked off without notice or your newest boyfriend has decided that he isn\’t ready for a commitment.  If your goal is financial freedom, reentry into the workforce, starting your own business or getting married most of these challenges can leave you feeling like a failure.

It\’s a burning desire that often will help you understand how to go around, under or over that obstacle and achieve your goal in the long run.  So how in the world do you develop that burning desire?

Personal development professionals and psychologists estimate that only between three and 5% of the population has ever written any specific goals.  75% have no goals at all and the rest of us seem to have some general unwritten goals.  Interestingly, those percentages also correlate with the number of people who consider themselves to be successful.  By living life without identifying goals and burning desires there is a tendency for dreams to remain dreams and never reached the level of reality.

Often times our burning desire, the reason why we want to work so hard, is tied directly to the goals we want to achieve.  For instance, if our goal is to find a life partner many people find that their reason why revolves around their desire to live life with a partner, develop a history over time and end life with the same person.  Those who have a goal to develop an entrepreneurial concern may have a desire to give back to their community, develop financial freedom for their family or teach their children independent skills.  But in some way the burning desire, the reason why, is tied to the goal itself.

How we develop that burning desire in our life can help us to maintain it, keep the fire burning so to speak, and assist us in getting past the challenges to achieving our goals.  Some people are born with a burning desire fueled by something they cannot express deep in their gut.  But, the majority of us must learn to cultivate a reason why or a desire that brings us through the hard times.

The first step to developing your reason why is to take full responsibility for where you currently are or are not.  If your goal is to find your life partner you must take responsibility for the fact that you spend every night at home reading a romance novel or spy thriller as opposed to developing relationships outside of the ones you already have.  Only when you recognize your current situation and take responsibility and ownership for the actions you have or have not taken in the past can you actively and successfully take action in the future.

Your next step is to create a lasting picture of the thing that you want.  You essentially will create your own mind movie, or a moving visualization of your goal that has motion, smell and sound.  By using your visualization you can continue to fuel your desire.

Another factor in developing your desire and continuing to keep it burning is to control the focus of your mind.  Concentration is key.  Most of the time we live multitasking.  With a Blackberry in one hand and iPod in the other you\’ll find many people out for their morning walk trying to accomplish more than one thing at a time.  Instead, it\’s better to complete one thing than to begin 10 others.  This means that when it\’s time to play concentrate on playing and when it\’s time to work get one thing done at a time, finish it, and do it well.

Another key factor to maintaining a burning desire is to identify the relationships in your life which have a negative effect on the reason why you want to achieve your goal.  Your own family can bring your motivation level down and although their intentions may be good it can have a dramatic effect on the results you attain.  Try to intentionally associate with people who have gone before you, walked the same path you have and are positive and encouraging.  Work towards cultivating relationships with people who will help you in your goals and not hinder you.

Remember to feed your mind.  Our mind is a very powerful thing and it is what developed your goal in your desire in the first place.  Read inspirational books, listen to audio programs, use your iPod or MP3 player to its fullest and feed your mind with the story of people who have gone before you and the ideas and techniques which can help you achieve your own goals.  Considered going to seminars, having lunch with your passionate friends or reading a fantastic book every month.  The best advice is to feed your mind with some form of motivational material for 15 minutes every single day.  This helps to re-charge your batteries from the challenges and obstacles you face each day.

Believe it or not, the way that you dress and think about yourself will also have a significant impact on your ability to maintain a burning desire in your life.  Each time you pass a mirror you get an instant snapshot of your image.  You are reinforcing what you think about yourself by the way that you dress and present yourself to the world.  Even if you work at home and never leave you should get up, get showered and dressed, put on makeup if you\’re a woman and dress for success.  Our armed forces understands the importance of taking pride in your appearance and how that factor alone will change the way you see yourself.

The last key factor, although certainly not the least, to developing your burning desire and keeping it burning, is to take action on your goals.  Even if it is only one action you must do something every single day.  All too often we get stuck in the analysis paralysis daze and never take action.  We wonder whether or not what we planned to do will be success, we dream that it is and choose not to do anything until the plan is perfect.

Instead it is important that you take action with what you know and the resources you have right now.  Don\’t wait until you get it perfect.  Don\’t wait until someone delivers something to you.  Take action towards your goal with what you have and what you know right now.  Your action will feed your desire and continue to move you towards a successful completion of your goal.

RESOURCES

Steve Pavlina: Cultivate a Burning Desire