Have you ever wondered why you fail to attain what you truly desire?
I am sure you have. A lot of people have unfulfilled desires, but while some have managed to keep working on until they are a reality, others have quit early.
The only difference between those who keep going, and those who quit, lies in one simple rhetorical question.
How badly do I want this?
You may have specific goals that are more important than others, we all do. That one goal that you genuinely wish to attain but it seems you are nowhere close to reaching it.
You may be asking yourself why your goal seems so far out of reach when the desire of attaining it is within your capabilities. The answer to that question is quite simple.
You’re simply not acting on it.
The Link Between Desire and Action
The first step towards accomplishing anything is desire.
Once you desire to have something, the only thing that can stop you from getting what you want is failing to act. It’s as simple as that. It does not matter how bad you want something, if you don’t act on it you will never have it.
A story is told of a young man who desired riches.
One sad afternoon as he sat in his garden, he pondered upon many ways he could fulfill his heart’s desire. He looked at his talents and thought of how he could use them to get what he wanted.
After a long struggle with his thoughts, he finally had an idea and came to a conclusion: “I have a talent, and I will use it to get the riches I desire. I will not rest until I achieve what I want.”
The decision was made.
He began acting on his desires by seizing every opportunity he had. As long as it was something that was in line with his abilities, he never let any opportunity pass him by. This went on for four years.
Yet as much to his dismay, he still hadn’t achieved the riches he desired.
So, he went back to that same place he was in when he came up with the idea of using his talents to fulfill his desire. He recalled everything that led him to the decision to act on his desires, and he remembered everything he had done to reach his goal.
He considered four years of pain and sweat that failed to bear him favorable results and asked himself:
“How badly do I want this?”
Remembering how his desire was more important than his failure, he chose to give it another year.
Months passed and he was still in the same place he was in before deciding to act. Without thinking of quitting, he thought: “How badly do I want this? I desire to be rich and I will not rest until I attain those riches.”
So, he decided to keep going but this time he had a different approach.
Instead of seizing every opportunity he got, he decided to focus on a few things he was exceptionally good at. He began turning down offers and accepting only those offers that added more value to both his clients and himself.
He focused on accepting work that gave him more flexibility, while allowing him to continue perfecting his abilities. Most importantly, he had weekly goals, monthly goals, and yearly goals.
He set aside a certain amount of money every week, month, and year and continued working while perfecting his skill. He finally reached his goal, many years later and got the riches he very much desired.
The moral of this story is that a scattered mind will not produce results. You will need both a strong desire and focused action to achieve your dreams. Without the constant re-assessment of his progress, the man would have quit just like so many others before him. But without the right focus, he would have chased every wrong opportunity forever.
In other words, his desires would have remained a wish.
Our Tips for Acting on Your Goals
If you are going to live the life you want, start acting on your desires and remember there are a few things you need to apply for the best results:
- You will not get what you want overnight because bringing your vision to life requires patience. Therefore, you will have to be patient with yourself on your journey to success. You have to make a decision that you will never quit. Decide how bad you want what you desire and conclude that you will keep working on it even if it takes years.
- You will fail a couple of times (or even a hundred times), but with every failure, you will learn a valuable lesson.
- You may have to change your approach once in a while to get what you desire. This means you may have to change your initial plan unexpectedly if you are serious about reaching your goals.
- You have to work smart, focus on the kind of work that adds more value to your life, and prioritize producing quality work for the people you work with or the people you work for.
Remember, you can bring your vision to life by acting on your goals, being patient, being flexible with your methods, and working smart. If you don’t act upon your goals, then they’ll forever remain dreams you could never achieved.
