de·sire: a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.
After constant encouragement to read Napoleon Hill's exceptionally popular book -- Think and Grow Rich, I finally decided to go ahead and read it. And I'm glad I did.
While this book was written nearly 78 years ago, there are many parallel's that can be made to our business market today, including the shaky financial market, the need for service based leadership, and the place of customer as king.
One thing that stands tall and true for me in this must-read book is the importance of DESIRE in business.
IMPOSSIBLE
One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man's familiarity with the word impossible -- Napoleon Hill
One flaw that most of us have (me included) is looking at other people's middle, and comparing it to our beginning. There is no situation where this ends well.
When we compare ourselves to successful people without looking at their failures, we end up discouraging ourselves. We therefore put ourselves in a position where success of any kind seems impossible, and where the only thing within our line of sight is a bunch of obstacles.
"Once impossible becomes a big part of our vocabulary, it is quite hard to eliminate from our daily talk."
So where does DESIRE come in?
Your desire(s) is fully under your control. When you are hungry for something- a relationship, a job, a promotion, a house, there is nothing other than that which you are hungry for that will satisfy you. With DESIRE fueling you, you gain the ability to run over every roadblock in pursuit of what you wish to acquire.
Everything that man creates or acquires, begins in the form of desire. -- Napoleon Hill
This DESIRE can also be applied to business, where people often encounter obstacles that seem too big to overcome. These obstacles including qualifications, capital, and level of experience, will always rear their ugly heads every time you seek to take a step forward.
However, DESIRE is yours and yours alone. It cannot be taken away or diminished without your say so; making it the most powerful weapon you can have when venturing out on your own.
With DESIRE on your side, the word IMPOSSIBLE no longer features in your vocabulary.
Once you have a DESIRE for something, this DESIRE will transform into an IDEA, which can then be acted upon in order to achieve success. However, your DESIRE needs to be DEFINITE in order for you to succeed. You cannot have a vague and indifferent desire, which you have barely put any thought into.
Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat -- Napoleon Hill
Definite DESIRE
When your DESIRE is DEFINITE, it is easier to transform that DESIRE into reality through hard work, organization, persistence, faith, and quick-witted intelligence.
Regardless of whether or not you have the support of your friends, family, and peers, your DESIRE to win will propel you forward. Your DESIRE should be what is driving you; not the negative attitudes of those around you or the obstacles that you face.
Your DEFINITE DESIRE will inspire you to move forward when you are too tired to take another step.
Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success -- Napoleon Hill
DEFINITE DESIRE will help you overcome poverty, abuse, trauma, discrimination, learning disabilities, humiliation, rejection, lack of education, sickness, and FAILURE!!
When riches begin to come they come so quickly, in such great abundance that one wonders where they have been hiding during all these lean years. -- Napoleon Hill
Wrapping it up
Note that I am not disregarding the enormity of obstacles that you might be faced with. What I am doing is stressing the significant role that DEFINITE DESIRE plays in business.
With this in mind I urge you to take a step back and reflect on your desires, so as to determine whether DESIRE or INDIFFERENCE is driving your business decisions. If INDIFFERENCE is what is driving you, then you will need to make a conscious decision to focus on what you DESIRE.
And when the failures do come, and trust me they will, shake it off.
Try again, and yet again, until you succeed.
Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence -- Napoleon Hill