Elevate your desire

Elevate your desire until it becomes a conviction.

I don’t think any of us should be a slave to circumstance. Some people seek a goal but give up easily, thinking that social conditions or economic factors make their goal impossible to realize. The more they study and understand their circumstances, the more convinced they become that their dream is unattainable.

If only they would cling to their dream with any intense desire, they could continuously devise better ways to make it come true. If you desire something from the bottom of your heart, your mind will work to overcome every obstacle in your path–even as you sleep. That is precisely how incredible efforts and true creativity are generated.

A slave to circumstance will only understand that unfortunate nature of a situation and conclude that the dream was unrealistic. But a person with a strong desire will start devising ways to solve the problem and not give up until the goals is reached.

The intensity of our desires is the biggest difference between those of use who move forward purposefully, those who keep stumbling, and those who idle their lives away.

P. 157.  A Passion for Success

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Strive for perfection

When it comes to work, I am a perfectonist.

If 90 percents of a task has been accomplished, some people think it is “good enough.” and move on. Office workers think they can always delete mistakes with an eraser. Since accomplishing 90 percents of a goal seems pretty good, they seldom pursue perfection.

In a chemical experiment, however, a 99 percents success could be totally blown away by the one percent error. Many engineers have been through this battlefield of pursuing the last degree of perfection. They know that even the smallest mistake can be fatal, not just to their project, but perhaps to someone’s life. That is why most engineers have an attitude of rigorously pursuing perfection.

It is extremely difficult to begin demanding perfection of yourself in everyday life. However, once it becomes your second nature, you can easiliy live that way. Aerospace engineers know that it takes tremendous energy to launch a satellite againts gravity. But once it is in orbit, the same satellite needs very littel energy to remain there.

A business leader must pursue perfection as an everyday habit.

Taken from P. 162, A Passion for Success.

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Live a contrite life

What I mean by a “contrite life” is a life where I am constantly and sincerely reviewing myself, questioning whether I am doing what is right as a human being, and trying to exercise self-discipline in my behavior. I try to be collected and humble in my reflections. And, when I see any vertige of selfishness and cowardice, I say, “Stop thinking only of yourself,” or “Have the courage to do what you know is right.” As I repeat this practice, I become more keenly aware of my own heart in ways that allow me to avoid bad judgments and potential mistakes.

We all know of people who were self-disciplined in youth and achieved great success, only to become arrogant in later years to the point that old friend remarks, “Success has ruined him.” Our human nature is eager to let us rest on our laurels. Unfortunately, no matter how successful we are in elevating ourselves, we may lose all we have gained unless we strive to remain humble, reflect upon our hearts, and learn every day.

People like us, who work relentlessly, tend to end each day merely completing tasks and not reflecting upon ourselves. But if we intend to elevate our human qualities, we must reflect critically on the reality of what we are and the ideal of how we should be.

If we fail to live a contrite life, success itself can be our downfall.

Copied from P. 31 of A Passion for Success

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