How Badly Do You Want to Succeed?

"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything." - Napoleon Hill

I was at a conference a few weeks ago and I did what I so often do. I asked the audience - all 60 people - if they wanted success. I said, "If you want success, raise your hand."

Then the attendees did what they so often do. They raised their hands. But their hands were limp and barely above their shoulders.

They had these sheepish looks on their faces as if they were telling me, "Yes, Derek. We want good things to happen - we think. Is it okay for us to want that?"

It should also be noted that when the audience filed into the room more than half of them immediately sat in the back half of the space.

The age range for the audience was between 18 and 35. But, there was one girl, a 12 year-old named Kaitlin, whose hand excitedly shot up in the air. She was also sitting in the front row.
She was brave enough to let the whole world know that she wants to be great. And she wasn't afraid to tell me why she wanted it, either.

I just have a couple of questions. What happens to us between 12 and 35 that makes us so uncertain about our potential for greatness? Why are we so passive about what we say we want? How can we ever achieve anything when our pursuit is so half-hearted?

Please email your answers to me! I welcome any answers you have to these questions.

From my experience this is not the right attitude for success. **Successful people ACT from a sense of URGENCY. I don't think y'all heard me. So I'll say it again.

**Successful people ACT from a sense of URGENCY.

There's an URGENCY to accomplish tasks. There's an URGENCY to live their dreams. There's an URGENCY to get things done. They're ATTACKING vs. WAITING. Big difference.

I'm just tired of weak answers about why people want certain things. Where's the tenacity of Kaitlin, the 12- year-old?

You need a reason to succeed. You need a living, breathing, vivid purpose!

Success comes to those who will settle for nothing less.

Jason Osborn of findyourgreatness.com says, "Write down your top five reasons why you want to be successful in life. Keep these in a place that you have to constantly look at them. Make these reasons be so ingrained in your heart and mind that when difficult times come you won't even consider it an option to quit."

Your friend,

Derek

For the past few years Derek Felton has engaged audiences all over with his philosophies on Purpose, Passion, and Attitude. Affectionately known as ?Mr. Positive?, Derek has an uncanny ability to relate to a wide range of people ? from skeptical teenagers to worldly adults. He is available for workshops, seminars, and keynote addresses.

He can be reached at derekfelton [http://www.derekfelton.com/blog] and at derek@derekfelton.com