Desire 2008

Welcome back to the TAGR blog for 2008. After a slow start to the year (zero blog posts), its time to get back into it.

Desire is the cornerstone of achievement. Simply put, if you dont desire something enough, then you will not achieve it. Attempting something, when you are indifferent to it, is a recipe for bad apple pie. And yet, we see scores of examples of people doing things that they arent really into, and then failing.

One of my readers once asked me, "What do you do, if you don't desire anything at all?"
"Well Jimmy" I said "If you don't desire anything at all, you're probably dead"
Her name wasn't Jimmy, and she didnt think that was very good advice, but the question remains,

"What if I don't desire it enough?"

Answer:
If you don't desire it enough, you won't overcome all the hurdles that will present themselves. You'll stop short.
But don't forget, that desire doesn't always appear immediately. Contemplating, and working on something, mulling it over in your mind, over time, nurtures desire. It creates desire and strengthens it.

This is why reading the statement (see Autosuggestion chapter) is so important. Reading the statement over and over again cultivates the desire in you. And then... its only a matter of time.

Introduction (Thoughts are Things)

How did a man dressed like a tramp with no money and no prospects, pitch up at the office of the greatest inventor in history, and secure himself a fortune?

We are all used to using excuses (alibis as Napoleon Hill calls them) to justify why we havent succeeded:

"If only I had more money..."
"If only I had more time..."
"If only I had superpowers..."

But one can truly see the absurdity of our excuses, when you see how little Edwin C Barnes had when he presented himself in front of Edison to ask for a job.

But it didnt matter, because had more than money or clothes or good references. He had his thoughts. He had a major definite purpose (to work with Edison), and he had a burning desire to make it happen.

Ok, it didnt happen straight away, but it did happen. Knowing what he wanted, and being committed to achieving it no matter what, gave Barnes the advantage over anyone else, and meant that nothing could stand in his way. Its as simple as that.

Appeal for Feedback

My hit counter tells me that there are at least 4 people who read this blog in the last week. Granted, two of them could have been me refreshing the screen, but that still leaves two faithful readers, willing to broaden their horizons by taking in the gems of information contained within this humble blog.

But, my plea to you is, don't visit in silence. Don't let the only vestige of your stay be another ambiguous number on the hit counter. Leave a comment. Leave more than one comment. Comment on any of the posts over the last three months. Let me know you actually exist!

Thank you

Decision

Well, its been almost 2 months since the last post, and because I didnt want to disappoint my loyal core of readers, I thought I'd give you more of what you have been waiting so long for.

Decision.

In short, to win, you must first decide to win.

This sounds rather silly, and self-explanatory, but is it?

How many times do we say "I want more money", or "I'd like a bigger house" or "I want to be the United Nations representative on the Committee for Climate Change?"
But these are just idle wishes (especially the last one, since I'm not sure if it even exists).
Compare "I want more money" to "I will take on a part-time job so as to increase my salary to $25,000 a month".
Firstly, where do I get a part-time job that earns that much, and secondly, the second guy is far more likely to achieve his goal.

Part of it is that his decision is clear and direct. But that stems from the fact that he has decided exactly what he wants, and therefore the rest of it falls into place.

You cannot achieve anything until you decide absolutely, that you are going to do it.

By the way, if you are reading this post, please post a comment, no matter how inane or insulting. Let me know you are out there!

Organized Planning

There are a lot of books out there that talk about goals. Many, many pages are devoted to describing the value of goals and how to set goals. This is definitely very important. Goals are the basis of achievement. As they say "How can you hit a target if you don't know where it is?"


Much less time is spent talking about plans. Part of the reason is that its much easier to talk about goals, because it can be applied to anyone. Plans on the other hand are very specific to the goal, so its much harder to write about plans in a way that targets the reader.


But this creates the mis-perception that all you need to do is set goals, and the rest will take care of itself. I have read many books that describe people setting seemingly impossible goals and achieving them thanks to the glory of goal setting. Of course, without a plan to achieve the goal, you can't get very far.


As Napoleon Hill says:


"Your achievement can be no greater than your PLANS are sound."


But to be fair, setting goals is quite easy. Making plans to achieve the goal, on the other hand, is hard work. But equally as important.

Imagination

I want to talk again about Young Gunsaulus, the clergyman, who found $1 million within 36 hours of deciding in his own mind to get it.

In the modern economy, power and money is no longer tied up to land and factories but to minds and ideas. This means that the key to success is within the reach of everybody. And I am more and more convinced that our own thoughts are the obstacle we have to overcome in order to find success. What do I mean? I mean that, we do not believe in our own minds that we can make things happen.

Too many of us, have had it drummed into our heads, that there is a set way to make money. Go to school, get a job, work hard. But this is WRONG. That used to be the best way to make money (its arguable if it was ever the best way), but now, the limits of achievement have been broken. People with no tangible assets, can create wealth like never before in human history. The story from the first chapter, of Edwin Barnes arriving at Edison's doorstep with nothing, and becoming rich within 5 years are more likely to happen now than ever before. Except, nowadays, you could do it in much less than 5 years.

The fact is, success is within the reach of all of us, but what we need is the principles that Napoleon Hill espouses, and the belief that we can achieve it. The decision followed by belief is crucial. If we only had the guts to back ourselves, with the appropriate advice, we can create wealth out of "thin air". There are billions of dollars circulating through the world economy every day. It is not beyond possibility for you to claim your share of it...if you are ready.

Specialized Knowledge

Part of this chapter talks about the value of ideas. Ideas are the key to our future. Everything that we create in this world, begins in thought, as an idea. You will only improve your life, to the extent that you come up with or find new ideas, for how to do things differently.

There are many sources of new ideas. I think, one of the best is using the minds of others. Getting the thoughts of others, be it through a brainstorming session with your mastermind group or even just casual conversation with someone at a party, may give you an idea, that sets you off on a new career path, a new pastime or a new strategy for achieving success. Its that simple. And I've seen it happen so often and had it happen to me so often, that I am convinced this is true.

You need to maximise the chance of getting these inspirations, by making a resolution to increase the number of people you talk to, and concentrate on topics which can result in great ideas. Most people tend to talk about the latest tragedy or bad news that they read in the paper or saw on the evening news. This isn't the key to progress. What you pay attention to grows. If you focus on success and achievement, it will increase in your life.

Networking groups, either in your field, or of a generic business nature, are an ideal environment to get new ideas. These groups tend to attract highly motivated, innovative and successful people. These are the kinds of people you want to be around.