Some things in life are worth standing your ground over.  In fact, I’d say the stuff that matters the most you usually have to fight for at one point or another.

What means enough to you that you would fight for it?  I mean the kind of fight where you put your whole self into it with no surrender.  You hold nothing back.  You would scratch and claw and battle with everything you are in order to get it, keep it and protect it.

Do you have anything you are this passionate about in your life?  Everything has a cost.  What do you want badly enough that you’d put everything on the line for?  Knowing this will clarify and reinforce your purpose.  It will give your life clear direction.

Knowing a Fight When You See One

“There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love.”

~ Susie Switzer

The word fight has been watered down to the point that it barely means anything anymore.  I read one definition that says, to fight is to “put forth determined effort”.  Really?!?  If you’ve ever been in any kind of a fight for something that really matters to you, then you know it is about a lot more than just putting forth some determined effort.

Real fighting is combat.  It isn’t always physical, but it is intense.  It is fully committing yourself with every ounce of your heart, mind and strength to win.  You fight with this level of intensity when you know there is no opportunity to turn back or give up because what you are fighting for is so precious to you that you simply cannot lose it.

You will never win if you half-heartedly go after what you want with puny determined effort.  Why?  Because you’ll wither and quit when you encounter the inevitable resistance that will come.  It takes a lot of might to create change.  People get their minds set about the way things are going to be or the way things are and your job is to convince them your plan is better.  That’s a tough job.

You have to fight for it.  I encourage you to fight fairly, but to recognize it is a fight.  You are going to get banged up a bit.  You are going to make a mistake or two and pay the price for it.  However, if you keep pressing forward, you will succeed.  You just have to outlast the other guy or gal.  Knowing a fight when you see it will give you the upper hand.

Name the Things You Will Fight For

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

~ Frederick Douglass

What is it that you want?  What in your life is non-negotiable?  What price are you willing to pay?  Will you fight for it?  Are you ready to fully commit yourself?  I challenge you with these questions today.  Think about it, I mean really think.  Get square in your mind about what it is that you’ll fight for.  There will be no progress in your life until you decide and name the things you will fight for.

Here are ten things to consider fighting for just to give you some food for thought:

1.  Your Principles

What do you value as the indisputable measure of truth?  There is right and wrong in the world.  I think we all know this deep inside.  Fighting for your beliefs and for justice is certainly a worthwhile pursuit, but it isn’t easy or painless.  At some point in your life, you will likely be confronted with a challenge to one or more of your principles.  Decide now which ones you value enough to fight for.

2.  Your Freedom

Freedom has never come cheap.  Many have paid the ultimate price so that you and I can enjoy the freedom we have now.  This freedom is often taken for granted.  However, if you look at the world, you will see that freedom is being challenged everywhere.  What price would you pay for your personal freedom?  Would you fight for it?

3.  Your Marriage

Marriages fail every day and divorce takes a big toll on us financially, emotionally and spiritually.  It is easy to become lazy and complacent in our relationship.  Do you have what it takes to fight the good fight for your marriage?  Will you stand up for your spouse and be the partner they need?  You must fight if you truly want it to last until death do you part.

4.  Your Children

If you haven’t noticed, our children are under attack.  I don’t mean to be melodramatic here, but it is just the plain, honest truth.  Their future is being compromised by weak-willed people that continually push off the current problems and lack of moral character onto the next generation.  Are you willing to fight for your kids?  If so, then stand up now and be willing to make sacrifices so they won’t have to!

5.  Your Business

Business is not easy.  I was self-employed for almost eight years so, I know how much you have to fight to create and maintain a company.  It is not an easy path to follow, but there are many rewards.  If you are in business for yourself or you want to be, then you better quickly decide just how strongly you are willing to fight for it.  Trust me, your business won’t last unless you do.

6.  Your Promotion

Are you ready to move up in the world?  If so, then you better start fighting for it.  As I said before, I believe firmly in fighting fairly and cleanly.  If you want that promotion, then fight by putting forth your very best effort.  Be willing to take on the big project.  Persevere through the trials so you can come out the other side shining.  Be a rainmaker and a linchpin for your employer and they will notice.  Fight to make it to the next level.  You’ll be happy you did.

7.  Your Prosperity

This is one area where we have grown fat, dumb and lazy.  Instead of fighting to build true wealth, many of us have resorted to living a pretend life that is completely propped up on credit cards and other consumer debt.  If you want true prosperity, then you better enter the struggle in a real way to get it.  Need some direction on this?  Then click here for a battle plan.

8.  Your Country

There are people all over the world right now fighting for their country.  They are taking their nations back from tyrants and dictators that have oppressed them for years.  Your country may not be locked in an actual war, but it still needs people, like you, citizens that are willing to stand up and fight for its future.  Will you be someone that will make a difference?  I sure hope so.

9.  Your Reputation

Reputation is everything.  It definitely proceeds you, good or bad.  Therefore, you’ve got to be willing to defend your reputation at every turn.  Once people sour on you and start thinking negatively of you, then it is extremely hard to change their minds.  Therefore, you better be fighting to maintain your good reputation every single day.

10.  Your Sanity

Finally, what is any of this worth if you go completely insane along the way?  You’ve got to fight to maintain some balance and perspective as you approach each of these struggles.  Of course, the clarity you will get from deciding what’s worth fighting for will help in this.  Keep your wits about you and your head up.  You are a warrior.  Pick your battles carefully and you’ll come out a winner.

What have you decided to fight for?  Please share your thoughts about this in the comments so others can learn from your perspective.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Do you apply these four things in your life?

If you wanted to stir up a success recipe for just about anything in life, you’d want to include focus, determination, passion and intensity as your key ingredients.

You can accomplish almost anything by first developing a well thought-out plan and then liberally applying these four elements to your execution of the plan.

If you lack these, then your endeavor is doomed from the outset.  You will almost certainly miss the mark.  Why?  Because these four things are absolutely crucial to the success of pretty much anything you do.  Let’s examine each of them more closely to see why.

The Four Key Elements to Success

1.  Focus

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”

~ Bruce Lee

I really like this quote because it says that regular people like you and me can be successful if you know how to really focus.  Focus is about bringing all your attention, effort and and resources to bear on a single purpose.  It is about making one thing a priority such that all your decisions, actions and resolve are completely in line with this goal. 

In a life or death struggle, a warrior knows everything he has is on the line.  Therefore, he fights with laser-like focus.  Losing is not an option.  If you bring this same concentrated focus to bear on achieving your desires, then you will exponentially increase your probability of success.

2.  Determination

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

~ Walter Elliott

The second quality you need to have to be successful is determination.  Determination is about being firm and fully committed to your goal. How much do you want what you are after?  Are you willing to crawl across broken glass to achieve your cause?  As the quote above lays out, you’ve got to be determined to persevere through numerous trials if you want to reach the winner’s circle. 

Your level of determination is a key factor in your success.  It is easy to get fired up about something only to burn out as soon as the first obstacle blocks your path.  Are you determined to exert yourself over and over again for as long as it takes to reach your goal?  If so, then you are well on your way.

3.  Passion

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

~ Carl W. Buechner

Your passion for what you desire has a lot to do with whether you will achieve it or not.  Do you have a fire in your belly for reaching your goal?  Typically, you need others to cooperate if you are going to make it.  Do you think Sir Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest alone?  No way!  He had a team of people helping him reach the top in brutal conditions.  How’d he get them to go along?  He had passion.

Passion inspires others.  It motivates and galvanizes people toward a cause.  Others want to follow a leader that is passionate for achieving great things.  They instinctively know that a leader with passion will reach his goal.  Are you that leader?

4.  Intensity

“The most distinguishing feature of winners is their intensity of purpose.”

~ Alymer Letterman

Finally, intensity ties this all together.  It is about the degree to which you are focused, determined and passionate for your cause.  Examine yourself here.  Do you feel just a little or a whole lot of intensity toward your goal?  If you have a big, hairy, audacious goal, then you are going to need a lot of intensity to power your way to the finish line. 

Intensity has to come from deep within or else it will burn up and dissipate too quickly.  You don’t want to be like a cheetah that can only sustain high bursts of speed for short distances.  You want to be more like the Monarch Butterfly.  Despite its seeming fragility, this butterfly flies as far as 3000 miles each way over mountains, through storms and against wind currents in its annual migration.  Now that is the intensity of purpose that it takes to be successful!

Use These Four to Up Your Chance of Success

There you have it.  As you can see, focus, determination, passion and intensity are key ingredients to achieving success.  Now, go find what you are passionate to achieve and chase it with all your heart.  You are just as capable as anyone else and if you apply these four elements, then you are almost sure to reach your goal.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

A fire sparked this idea about achieving our desires.

This weekend I spent a little time out on the patio in my backyard staring at the stars.  The kids were in bed and the day was done.  It was wonderful.  My wife and I listened to the crickets as they sang their song of enchantment.  It was a bit cool after the sun went down which created the perfect opportunity to start a nice fire in the chiminea.  Outdoor fires are so mesmerizing!  If you have a chiminea, fire pit, or have ever had a campfire, then you know what I mean.  It seems almost impossible to draw your eyes away from the flames. 

I watched the flames in the chiminea as they danced, twirled, and glowed.  I moved closer and looked at the various parts of the fire.  It is fascinating to me.  Fire appears on the surface to be nothing more than brightly colored air.  It is see through and like the wind, you know it is real, but you cannot grab a hold of it.  Fire is also powerful.  It can destroy an entire house in minutes.  This fire seemed angry as it whipped about inside the chiminea.  Its power was evident in the bottom of the clay fireplace.  It had reduced some of the wood to nothing more than a few glowing embers.  In addition, the action of the flames created light and shadows on the wall behind us.  It was all very dramatic and made my mind race.  As I was being hypnotized by the fire, I started relating it to how people focus on their desires.

Three things the fire can teach us about achieving our desires.

It occurred to me that there are really three significant ways that I could use the fire to help illustrate the importance of intensity and focus in fulfilling our desires.  Let me see if I can put into words what seemed so powerful in my mind.

1.  Desire is the fuel of accomplishment. 

A fire does not burn without fuel.  I’m sure that you have fed a fire before.  If so, you know that it consumes the wood at an amazing rate.  You have to keep feeding it if you want it to burn.  A true desire is like fuel for a fire.  It is more than a whim or want.  It is something that burns inside of you.  It fills your thoughts.  It doesn’t go away.  It continually feeds your efforts.  Of course, true desire is like firewood.  You have to collect it.  There is a little work to be done before you can get the flames started.  Sometimes, people lack direction in their life.  This is usually because they don’t take the time to fully develop their desire in their mind.  They don’t gather the fuel for their desire.  So, either their fire never gets going or it quickly dies and goes out.  You have to develop a strong mental image of exactly what you want to accomplish.  You need to emotionalize it.  That is, you need to fix the picture of the end result in your mind and then vividly imagine how you will feel when you have met the goal.  This may seem a little too touchy, feely for some, but it works.  It is like gathering the firewood.  You build up the fuel to feed the effort you need to achieve your goal.

2.  Keep your fire focused. 

The flames of a fire are tossed about by every breeze that blows.  It doesn’t take much of a wind to whip a fire all about.    I picture the wind as all the distractions and diversions that come along and try to steal our focus.  I don’t know about you, but it is easy for me to start out in one direction only to have something else catch my attention a few minutes later and before I know it, I have ten things going on.  Of course, I then make very little progress on any of it.  We have to guard the fire of our desire against all these distractions.  We have to stay focused if we want to achieve our goal.  There are so many things vying for our attention these days that this is often difficult.  I find that creating a tangible record of my desire is effective in maintaining a laser focus.  I usually write out my desire, but I have seen others use a collage of pictures very effectively for this purpose.  When you begin to feel distracted, you pull out this record of your desire and use it to stoke the flames of your emotions.  Find what works for you and use it.

3.  Burning intensity will drive you to your goal. 

The hottest part of a fire is often the glowing embers at the bottom.  These are what keep the fire going.  Even if the flames go out, you can toss some wood on the white-hot embers, fan it a little, and the flames will jump up again.  The embers symbolize the core of your desire.  This is the source of your most powerful intensity.  What about your desire is the easiest for you to emotionalize?  Hang on to this.  Recall it when the going gets tough.  When you are up against your biggest critic or obstacle, you will need this glowing ember.  It will revive the flame of action inside you.

You have to keep the fire burning to accomplish your desire.

Keeping the intensity of your desire burning hot is the single most important factor in accomplishing what you want.  You have to clearly know what you want, stay focused on it, and recognize the core of your desire to achieve success.  Those that do these things realize the big payoff.  They live the life of their dreams!

Please Stumble this article!

Photos by Carey Tilden and Steve took it and The Joy Of The Mundane

Entrepreneurs know what I’m talking about here.  Up until a couple of years ago, I was a partner in a small business.  Have you ever tried marketing a small business?  It wasn’t easy.  It takes intensity.  You have to be so committed and intense that it almost becomes an obsession.  It has to be what you think about every waking moment.  This level of intensity is what it takes to get people to notice you and your business.  Why do you think that car dealers bombard us constantly with television commercials?  It is difficult to get noticed and even more difficult to motivate people to take the action we want them to take to buy our product or engage our services.  Of course, most small business owners do not have the marketing budget to run non-stop commercials, so they need intensity to do guerilla marketing.

The attitude has to be one of “Do or die!” or “California or bust!”  Settlers that left good homes in the East and traveled to California back in the 1800s had intensity.  They faced unimaginable obstacles that threatened their lives everyday.  It wasn’t just their financial livelihood at stake, if they went bust, then it probably meant the death for them and their families.  That is pressure that will motivate you to do whatever it takes and to never stop.  This is the same level of intensity we must bring to our endeavors if we want to see them succeed in a big way.

White-hot intensity pushes fear aside for me.  When I’m intensely committed to something, I won’t let anything get in my way.  When obstacles arise and they almost always do, I improvise.  I workaround them.  I find someone that can help.  I try and try again until I find the perfect combination of things to do to overcome the issue.  I have a whole different level of confidence and determination when intensity is working for me.  There is no room in my mind for self-doubt.  I am completely consumed with doing everything I can to make my endeavor a success.

We typically say that athletes are “in the zone” when they are playing with this level of intensity.  You can see it in their eyes.  I have seen it in Tiger Woods eyes on numerous occasions.  His level of concentration toward the game of golf is what makes him a champion.  He doesn’t let anything distract him from the shot he needs to make.  He isn’t thinking “What if I hit into that bunker?” or “Wow, I bet there is going to be a great celebration when I win.”  He is just concentrating on doing exactly what he needs to do to get the ball from where it is to where he wants it to be.  Thinking about the bad things that might happen or how much I am going to party when I succeed are just distractions that take my mind off what I need to do to succeed.

Another thing about intensity is that it seems to have a positive physiological effect on me.  I have more energy and stamina.  I get up earlier to get more done toward my project.  When the alarm goes off, I get right up rather than laying there wondering how morning arrived so quickly.  I work at a pace that would normally wear me out, but I find that when I’m doing what I love, I am able to keep going.  This effect often amazes me, but I thoroughly enjoy it.  I suppose this is another aspect of intensity that benefits athletes as well.

There is a potential pitfall to this level of intensity.  The single-mindedness that I need to succeed is sometimes detrimental to the balance in my life.  I get so intense that I devote all my time and energy to my endeavor and neglect other areas.  I get agitated and frustrated when other important people and things in my life “distract” me from my present initiative.  Fortunately, by attacking things with such intensity, I am usually able to succeed with them in a fairly short period of time.  This allows me to regain the balance in my life quickly.  However, I still have to guard against this because relationships are easily damaged.

My present project is this blog.  I have been going after it with passion and intensity.  I hope you find it beneficial.  Please leave a comment and let me know how intensity works for you.  Also, if you enjoyed this please Digg or Stumble It so others will know.