Jun
Get Hungry!
We often speak of a strong desire in terms of hunger. In colloquial jargon, being “hungry” means wanting something badly. The analogy is one many of us know. Physical hunger is one of the driving forces which most people can understand.
It has been my experience that willpower alone is not always enough. Willpower is good for the short term. The only way to sustain willpower for the long term is to fuel it with desire. An ardent desire has the kind of staying power necessary to achieving any goal. The essential ingredient is the “hunger” that endures.
You can observe it in professional sports. Major League baseball only has 750 active players for most of the season. Of all the millions of people who play the sport worldwide, there are only 750 openings. (If you count the complete 40 man roster of active and inactive players, there are 1200.) There are many talented individuals who want one of those spots.
Every now and again, a minor league player gets an opportunity. Usually, it happens if he is called up from the minor leagues to replace an injured player. Some of the replacements come with a will to stay. You can see it in their eyes and in how they play. They stand apart from those who come up and think they have arrived. To those who truly desire a place, there is no arrival. They feel they have to earn their place every day.
For old and new players alike, Major League baseball only has room for players who earn their place. They have to perform. They have to contribute to the team. A trusted player will be retained, even if he is temporarily out of action due to injury. He has earned his place so well that the team is willing to give him time to heal. Those who do not earn their place find themselves traded, sent back to the minor league or dropped. Nobody’s place is permanent. Even the best of the older players know they will be replaced when their talent fades. Professional baseball is all about winning. When a player can no longer contribute to victory, he is replaced by someone who can.
Life rewards excellence and punishes mediocrity. In our recent economic downturn, the businesses which survived were those who acted as if they had to earn their place every day. Those companies who had lost their edge fell by the wayside. Life did not care how old they were, how large they were, or how respected they were. When the economy slid, so did the companies whose former excellence was gone.
There is a trend in schools and children’s activities to give all participants some kind of prize. The message is that there are no losers. It is cute and it is unrealistic. It teaches children that everybody gets something, no matter how well they did. Life does not work that way. The prizes in Life do not go to everybody. They go to those who earn them. The best prizes go to those who have the initiative, talent, willpower and desire to succeed. In other words, the only sure way to win is to be “hungry” enough. You have to want it and be willing to go to the necessary lengths to get it.
Success is the goal and desire is the fuel that gets you there. If you want to achieve great goals, first get “hungry” enough.
