Summary
Do you have the drive to succeed? Where does that grinding desire to win come from?
Don’t confuse this with the motivation to attain and hold a job. The world’s true success stories aren’t content with that – contentment doesn’t seem to be a word in their vocabulary. This can create a lot of struggle and challenge over the course of their journey, but ultimately a lot of satisfaction is gained when they look back upon all that they have achieved.
The desire to win doesn’t rest or take holidays. It’s a grinding hustle that knows nothing of sick days, holidays or the normal boundaries observed by most of us. Employees rightfully advocate for a healthy work-life balance, but many driven strivers are focused more upon work-life integration – the distinction is that their sense of mission and purpose is so all-consuming that it actually becomes a part of their life wherever they go and no matter what they are doing.
What is it that pushes them on well past the breaking point, when many of us will stop? It is often about legacy. We want to know that in our time here we made the very best and fullest use of the talents we have been afforded.
How can you best harness that desire to meet your own ambitions? Read on to learn some techniques for ensuring that you are maximizing everything you have in your tool kit.
Transcript
We hear a lot about innate talent and ability. When we think of geniuses, we often think of individuals who seem to have been born fully formed with some special kind of gift that few of the rest of us could have ever hoped to emulate.
Sheer talent and skill surely is a difficult combination to best. As much as we want, it is unlikely that many of us will be able to play professional basketball without the height and strength that many professional players were born with and cultivated even before they ever had a ball in their hands.
But natural ability is not enough. It’s desire that wins out in the end. All the talent in the world doesn’t translate into much if it is left to languish at home instead of rushing the field or taking the stage. How strong is your desire and will to succeed?
In the end, drive and determination will eat talent for breakfast – each and every time. It is not enough to be gifted. What matters is how you choose to use that gift, and to what degree you are disciplined about it.
Where does that drive to conquer, no matter the obstacles, come from?
Where Does Drive Come From?
Many of us are perfectly content to enjoy our friends and personal time, put in our bit of time and face work to keep the paycheck coming in, and generally be content with life as it comes. It’s not necessarily the unhappiest way to live. So what has gotten into those people who simply can’t be satisfied? The ones who barely seem to understand the concept of a weekend? The ones who slave long into the night on projects that may ultimately never even be seen or get off the ground? How do they maintain that zeal and focus to keep plowing way beyond what others around them think is reasonable or prudent for working?
It very often can be traced to some formative experience in childhood. Not to generalize too much, but a common thread that you may see in very high achievers is that they either come from backgrounds with a fair amount of comfort or else they began with very, very modest upbringings in which the chances of outsized success were unlikely. One could argue that coming from either extreme of the spectrum has an affect on how we think about success and what we want to accomplish; they either are trying desperately to live up to an ideal standard of success or are striving very hard to prove themselves by clawing out of a poorer set of circumstances.
Upbringing and fate of birth can’t entirely explain it of course. Many of us make the decision to commit ourselves 100% later in life. Some of us lose ourselves in work, finding it to be a more satisfying use of our time than other recreational activities. Others are motivated by the explicit material rewards laid out to be seized. And yet others simply love the idea of striving to be the very best in the world, at whatever it is that they do.
Hard Work, Dedication & Something to Prove
Pride and hubris, if channeled properly, can be very useful traits in driving on toward productive pursuits and creating work that can positively impact others’ lives.
The myth of overnight success is very much a falsehood – a useful one for high achievers. They may well wish to cultivate the impression that sheer talent and an aura of mysterious ability was the driver of their achievements, rather than acknowledging that it simply takes burning ambition and a willingness to crowd out many of the trappings of a normal life to attain success. I doubt that many Olympic gold medals were won by people who woke up on the day of their event simply hoping to do well.
It takes years of concentrated effort and sacrifice in order to reach the level of a world-class performer in most any field. It requires slaving on through weekends and evenings. It necessitates living with a higher degree of ambiguity that many people, the ones focused on traditional pathways of advancement and comfort, may be willing or able to tolerate.
Know What You Want
Winners know exactly what they want, and they have an idea of what they will need to be prepared to do in order to get there. Without goals or targets in mind, you are far more likely to spend time spinning your wheels in place rather than really advancing in any direction.
This is why the first step to achieving success requires laying out clearly defined goals. In a complex and ultra-fast moving time in which industries and jobs are disrupted continually, it surely makes sense to reserve a degree of flexibility and openness in your ambitions. However, don’t lose sight entirely of what you want. You may be well served to focus on some key themes for the type of work that you are interested in –say, attaining a prominent role at the intersection of venture capital and emerging technologies, just as one example. Having an idea of the themes you want to keep in mind for your goals will help give you a general direction to keep striving toward.
Be Fearless
The fear of failure is enough to keep many from pursuing their dreams with all their heart. In their estimation, looking foolish or unsuccessful is a far worse fate than just not trying at all. By staying home under the covers, passing the time with entertainment and recreation, they can tell themselves that there is more to life than work and they can best use their energy and time on other pursuits.
Don’t fall into the insidious lie of the half-truth – of course, there is more to it all than work in a well-rounded life. But meaningful work and making the fullest use of your particular talents is also a big part of living the most satisfying life possible. The old adage is correct, in that few of us wish for more time at the office when we die – but that’s because the office is an emblem of structure and hierarchy. What we may well wish when we pass away is that we did the best job that we could with our skills and talents, especially if those gifts can help to build better lives for our families and for others in the process. That is where the real desire to win is born.
Don’t let others feed into your fears. It can be hard enough to pursue your goals if you are second-guessing yourself – you simply have no room in your life for naysayers telling you why you can’t do what you are setting out to achieve. They may be coming from a place of good intentions if they believe you are not being realistic and are setting yourself up for a crushing failure, but that is not their decision to make for you. You should strive to surround yourself with a support network that shares the same desires that you do and is always rooting for you by your side.
Remember that failure and doubt are at the central root of every great success story. The obstacles that you overcome will only make your eventual progress and victories all that much sweeter – maintain your focus and your drive to succeed, even when you sometimes must stand alone.
Be sure to learn more on how to harness your desire to succeed by visiting my web site: tonyneumeyer.com and register to receive free trainings articles and more. Also subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Facebook.
