Burning Desire, Unyielding Success: How to Achieve What You Truly Want

 A lot of times we talk about we want success. We need success, etc. But have we defined what success really looks like? Do we even have the burning desire to achieve the success that we want to achieve. Maybe some of us have, some of us have not. It's the game of the haves and the have not. But well today I want to focus on having a burning desire. I read a couple of articles where they defined a burning desire as a MUST have rather than a should have. Some articles mentioned that burning desire means, burning the ships so that you can't go back. Either you die or you succeed. It's basically, how bad you want to achieve something in life. But what really is a burning desire? "If you have a burning interest in something or a burning desire to do something, you are extremely interested in it or want to do it very much" That's how Collin's dictionary defines a burning desire. It's a burning interested in something or a burning desire to do something, you are extremely interested in it or want to do it very much.But in my understanding, I just define a burning desire as something that we want to achieve really badly and we can go to any extent to achieve that. So anyways now let's take a look at what others have mentioned about a burning desire that they want in their life. 

One thing people have mentioned is that success begins with a burning desire inside of yourself and the determination to never quit on it. This is true and to expand this thought further, let's break it down. The first part of the sentence truly means having a burning desire inside of yourself. The second part on the other hand is a determination to never quit on it. What this means is that one can have a burning desire but if one quits(I am not talking about changing courses here) when the going gets tough there's no point  of the burning desire. Any successful human being in the world has had his/her own share of failures, own share of insecurities and disappointments. But one needs to keep moving forward inspite of that. One needs to show up even when your day is bad. One needs to work hard even when one does not feel like working hard. That's what success truly is. 

A lot of people think of success as an event. However, in reality success is a process, a process of being better than what you were yesterday. Yes there are events in this process, which is called an achievement, for example, getting a promotion, winning a championship, or even achieving so and so fitness goal. Yes that day would be an event, but working for the promotion, working for winning the championship and working towards your fitness goal will contribute more than 90% of the time. So never giving up on your goals and having a burning desire to get better will contribute to your life more than you can ever imagine. Showing up will matter on your bad days not on your good days. Lifting weights will matter more on your bad days, not your good days. Practicing your sport will matter even on the day when you don't feel like. Remember the goal is always to be better than what you were yesterday. 

One has to understand the impermanence of life, like success, failure is also not permanent. Intense burning desire is the motivational force that enables you to overcome any obstacles because it is the very thing that fuels persistence and resilience in the face of adversity. Without this inner drive, obstacles can feel insurmountable, and setbacks may seem like permanent roadblocks rather than temporary challenges. When you have a deep, burning desire to achieve something, that passion acts as an unwavering source of energy that pushes you to keep going, even when the going gets tough.

At its core, a burning desire gives you a sense of purpose. When you know exactly what you want and why you want it, every action you take becomes imbued with meaning. This purpose acts as a guiding star, helping you stay focused even when external circumstances try to throw you off course. For example, an athlete may face physical pain and mental fatigue during training, but their desire to win a championship or break a record drives them to push through those moments of discomfort. Without that desire, it would be easy to give up when faced with difficult conditions.

Obstacles—whether they come in the form of self-doubt, external criticism, or unforeseen setbacks—are a natural part of any ambitious endeavor. However, intense desire provides the energy required to overcome those obstacles. When you are truly passionate about your goal, you’re more likely to find creative solutions and alternative paths when faced with resistance. This is because the desire isn’t just about the outcome—it’s about the journey and the satisfaction of overcoming challenges along the way.

Take someone like Elon Musk—he has encountered monumental challenges in his journey to revolutionize space travel and electric vehicles. Musk’s intense desire to address climate change and make space exploration more accessible has kept him moving forward despite frequent setbacks, technical failures, and even public skepticism. His burning desire has enabled him to invest countless hours, energy, and resources into solving problems that most people would deem impossible.

Now the question is how in the world can we have this intense desire practically? I mean we already distracted by the internet and the social media. The body image issues has increased and the focus time has decreased. So what do we need to do to have this intense desire to achieve something practically? 

1. Define your why very clearly:  I have always believed that asking why to anything is probably the most important question. The how is figured out later, but asking your why helps you to stick to a course and motivates you to embrace challenges and persist even in the face of adversity. Maybe you want a promotion in your job? Ask a why right now? The reason you want it is because it helps you increase your confidence, it gives you more money and with more money your family can live more comfortably. Providing comfort to your family will give them happiness and seeing them happy will give you more happiness. Now that's your why. Read that everyday. Maybe you need to hit your fitness goals? You want to hit your fitness goals so you can look good. Okay what does looking good do to you, it attracts better partners, but also helps you feel better about yourself. It improves your everyday confidence. Every day confidence is attached to your self worth and success. And success eventually has a link to happiness. Seeing you happy will motivate your family to do better in terms of fitness as well. There can be countless such why's that you can write but remember whenever you don't feel like doing something, do it on that day. Because that's the day that counts the most. 

2. Develop Routines: We all know that our will power is limited. So it's very important to create a routine for ourselves. Whether that's a morning routine, a night routine or if it's your daily planning routine. This is equally important in today's day and age. For example, you can have a morning routine that looks like this: Brush your teeth and take a bath. Exercise, and then plan for your day. Have breakfast. Go to work. 

Evening routine: 

* Read 30 minutes of book. 

* Reflect on what went well on your day

* Reflect on what can be improved. 

* Plan your next day. 

Now just these 2 simple routines will improve your life to the point that you would not really believe. Firstly, since you have reflected on your day, you will think about what can be improved. You have read 30 minutes of a book so you will become at least 1% intelligent(assuming it's a good book). You plan for the next day and this will make sure that since you have planned. You would not get lost in endless scrolling of social media or any other unproductive activity. 

3. Surround yourself with the right community: The people you spend your time with influence a lot about your mind and your habits. Being around people who are focused, motivated and achieving something in life will make you motivated and your desire will increase just by looking at them, hearing them talk and being with them. At the same time, spending time with negative people, people who don't haver anything to look forward to, will distract you and put you down. So remember very well whom you are spending your time with and be conscious in making the right choices there. If you have a goal of fitness, remember to follow people on instagram that are fitness influencers, if you have a goal of achieving promotions, follow influencers that help you become better. The content you consume online also has a huge play on your mind. 

4. Embrace delayed gratification: In today's world, you will find instant gratification everywhere. Starve yourself of instant gratification. Starve yourself of the dopamine you get by simply scrolling through the reels. Do the tough things, read a book instead, go for a jog, or simply play a musical instrument. Even maybe listen to some music, but do something that's not immediately rewarding. That way you will learn more about instant gratification. 

Remember your brain really does not need cheap dopamine. The dopamine you get from reels and social media is cheap. I am not saying don't use social media, I am saying understand that the dopamine you get from there is not worth it. The second thing is to focus on real connections, sunshine, being in the nature, taking rest and listening to good music. That's what one needs to focus on rather than the cheap dopamine. That way your life will be a lot richer. Your urge to procrastinate will reduce, your urge to do something meaningful will improve. After all, anything meaningful takes time. As they say, "Rome was not built in a day". So remember meaningful things is your goal. One way would be to reward yourself of some dopamine after completing something. Maybe you did some deep work for 2 hours and you need a break. You can reward yourself with some dopamine there, maybe you exercised really hard for an hour and now you need a break, you can reward yourself with some dopamine. But remember, real dopamine is connection, sunshine, nature, rest and some good music. That's all there is to life. 

5. Be in the present moment: One important thing in a world of social media is that we have forgotten to be in the present moment. For an example, when you are looking at the waterfall there, don't worry too much about anything else in the past or in the future. Don't worry about the instagram likes you will get when you post a selfie with the waterfall, yes do post your selfie, but don't worry about the future. Just be there and enjoy the waterfall. That's way you will truly feel happy seeing the waterfall. If you are at a trek, don't worry about the work you have to do tomorrow, just enjoy the trek truly today. When you are playing a sport, don't worry too much about the outcome, just play and have fun playing the sport. Yes, I am not saying don't analyse and improve your game, I am talking about being fully present when you are there. Life is much happier when we live in the present. 

So in conclusion, what I want to say, success is a combination of a burning desire, a never give up attitude, and consciously creating an environment that's positive and empowering. Success is also about making sure that we do not go after cheap dopamine, but we go after the real dopamine that comes with time. Success is delayed gratification. And being successful, just doesn't imply that you have all the money in the world, but it also implies that you stay in the present moment and you live and enjoy the present moment well enough. Because baby, that's all there really is to life ! The present moment and that's the most powerful moment.