The energy of DESIRE

In every desire is the energy and motivation needed to fulfill that desire. The problem is that we often use even more energy to fight the desire. That's like driving your car with one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake pedal at the same time.

We have desires for a reason. They motivate us to take action. They compel us to take action. Unfortunately, we often don't want to take action. So we launch a counterattack on our desires, with powerful weapons such as fear, unworthiness, guilt, and anger. Not only does this require tremendous effort, it also destroys the original power of the desire. What a waste!

What are your desires, your goals? Are you using their own energy to go toward them? Or are you wasting your energy by fighting them, by frightening, shaming or rationalizing them away?

Far better to just go ahead and take the actions necessary to reach your desired goals. You know what you want. You know how to get it. Take action. Stop wasting your life fighting with yourself, and do what needs to be done.

Priorities

In order to accomplish anything, you cannot do everything. Life is constantly presenting you with an infinite number of possibilities. Yet no matter how rich, or talented, or well connected you are, you can only do so much. There are only 24 hours in a day.

Everything of value comes at a price. If it didn't have a price, it would have no value. And the price is sacrifice. In order to have anything, you must sacrifice other things. In order to play the violin, you must sacrifice the time it takes to learn and practice the instrument. To take the afternoon off and play golf, you must sacrifice the sale you would have made.

Every time you make a choice, you are expressing your priorities. If you don't like where your life is going, take a good look at your priorities. Not the priorities you claim to have, but the priorities that are revealed by your choices.

Every choice is a decision to sacrifice all the other possibilities. You must decide which possibility is the most important to you at any given time. What are your priorities? Make your choices accordingly.

Ambition or Arrogance

Too many people confuse ambition with arrogance, and then wonder why it fails them.

The distinctions between ambition and arrogance are sometimes subtle, yet critical. From a distance, the two can appear to be the same. However, their results are worlds apart.

Ambition is expecting the best of yourself. Arrogance is believing you are better than others. Ambition is the desire to make a difference. Arrogance is the belief that you're indispensable. Ambition is doing whatever it takes to accomplish what you know you deserve. Arrogance is thinking that the world owes you something, and doing what you can to take it. Ambition is disciplined and assertive. Arrogance is pushy. Ambition is responsible and respectful. Arrogance is destructive and disdainful.

Are you driven by ambition or arrogance? Arrogance will drive you into the ground. Ambition will drive you to the top.