You don’t need a candle, when you are on fire. You don’t need motivation when you have burning desire.
The road to getting what you want can be hard and treacherous. You have done the work of knowing yourself and knowing what you want. You have taken the time out to consider the cost, and what it would take to get there. Now it’s time to formulate the plans and action.
But before we dig into all that, let’s talk about something very important.
One big thing that stops us from getting what we want, is inertia. The law of inertia states that a body in motion will continue in perpetual motion until it is acted upon by another force. We know what it is like to have lived so long in the status quo, that it is difficult to move out of that orbit into a new level of action and being.
Short of a harsh wake-up call or near-death experience, many of us would keep on sleeping, being dead to our potential, and just doing enough to get by. How can you gain the momentum to start moving towards your goals, and the fortitude to withstand the obstacles that are 100% going to be in your way?
You have to cultivate burning desire.
When was the last time you really wanted something? Like wanted it so bad, you were obsessed with it. You spent all day day-dreaming about it. And it still plagued your dreams when you fell asleep. When last were you so excited that you couldn’t wait to jump out of bed in the morning to get started. So eager, that you loathe the fact that you needed to sleep at all.
You need that energy if you are to get what you want.
When you are truly 100% committed to reaching your goals, you move from hoping to knowing. If you want something badly enough, then quitting is simply not an option. You either find a way or make one. You pay the price, whatever it takes. – Steve Pavlina
You have to want what you want so bad, that everything falls away. You have to crave it so much that you will do WHATEVER IT TAKES. It is that fire in your belly that will keep you going long after your mind is tired, and your body is drained. It is that thing that would provide you with a second wind and a third wind. It is that burning desire that will shut your mind to the naysayers and keep you laser focused on your goal.
So how do we cultivate burning passion?
The same way we cultivate anything. By giving it attention. By feeding it.
There is a reason we are encouraged to write down our goals and make vision boards. These exercises give expression to our dreams. They also make them a little more tangible. They burn the images to our subconscious.
What you feed your attention to, will grow in your life. So why not give your desires your attention?
Some tactics to cultivate burning desire
Write it down
Write down what you want. Write your goals. Studies show that just the mere act of writing your goals down vastly increases the chances of you achieving them. Writing encodes the desire into your brain and lets it seep into your subconscious. Even if you take that piece of paper you wrote your goals on, put it in your drawer and only picked it up again a year later, you would be surprised at how much you would have accomplished. It’s quite magical really.
Make a vision board
I know, I know, it sounds corny. One of those ‘The Secret’ things blah blah. But do it. Make a vision board. You can make a cork one or take a large sheet of cardboard and cut up images of what you want and images that inspire you and stick them up there. Put it up somewhere you can see it always. Or make a board on Pinterest, fill it with those images. Go through it as much as you can, add to it, play with it. Let these images feed your desire.
Fantasize about it
Meditate about it. Take the time to map out your desire in your mind’s eye. Imagine yourself having the thing that you want. Feel the emotions and the vibe of having what you want. Walk through your dream house, hold your book in your hand, feel the sea breeze on your skin as you walk the beach with your lover on your honeymoon. Occupy your dreams in your mind.
Immerse yourself in it.
As you cultivate desire, and get more excited about the things you want, go even deeper. Go as close to full immersion as you can get. Surround yourself with the things that pertain to what you want. Associate with like-minded people, read books, watch programs around your interest. Make a playlist for it. Fill your down time with podcasts and videos that reinforce your desire. Go all in.
Experiment with these tactics and remix them with some of your own. Keep your vision firmly before your eyes and stoke your desire until it grow from glowing embers to a roaring flame that propels you forward.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. — Swami Vivekananda
