Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking - Part II

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”
Mark Twain

PART II

This is the second of a two-part blog that examines how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking.” In Part I we examined “The Natural Enemies of Promise” - Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. If you cannot defeat the Natural Enemies of Promise by changing how you think, the possibility of your promise will D.I.E.

In part two of how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking”, we will examine the Natural Allies of Promise that will enable you to L.I.V.E. the possibility of your promise.

I often hear people espouse about this dream and that dream and how they will, “Achieve it because they believe it!” Goody for them. Having a dream is a good start toward achieving the possibility of your promise. But, dreams can be misleading. What is a dream? It’s vaporware at best. You can’t hold it or mold it. A dream is born of your unconscious mind’s need to express a combination of experiences both vividly imagined and real into a synthesis that, for a fraction of time, makes sense.

If you want to use a dream as a platform for launching your toward reaching the possibility of your promise you will need to take it to the next step; converting your dream into a desire. Your success in converting that desire into a reality will L.I.V.E. on How You’re Thinking when you engage the Natural Allies of Promise as a framework for desire-based thinking.

THE NATURAL ALLIES OF PROMISE

The thinking-shift from a D.R.E.A.M. (a Deeply Rooted Emotionally Achievable Manifestation) to a D.E.S.I.R.E. (a Deeply Emotional Self-Interested Realistic Expectation) is pivotal if you want to reach the possibility of your promise. But, like all things, it’s tough to do it on your own. So, just like any project where you would look to fill in the gaps between your talent and your needs, the Natural Allies of Promise can help you fill the gaps in your desire-driven thinking, helping you keep focused on your intended goal. The Natural Allies of Promise are Longing, Intention, Viability, and Enthusiasm. Let’s briefly examine each’s role as a natural ally of promise.

Longing

When I was seven years old I saved up a bunch of box tops and sent away for a medal model of a red, Ford Thunderbird convertible. The process of waiting to receive that “prize” was my first exposure to desire-driven behavior. My yearning to hold that shiny red auto in my hands became the singular focus of an entire summer. I would plan my days around the mailman’s delivery schedule. In the days before tracking numbers, expectation that “today would be the day” was as close to instant gratification as I could get. My longing to achieve the possibility of the promise of this car as fulfillment of my expectation was the prime catalyst of my success.

Longing is a powerful ally in your desire to achieve something. A longing is more than an idle or passing thought. A longing is a persistent hunger for something accompanied by a burning, obsessive craving, unquenchable thirst to achieve a promise or reach an objective. A longing says you are in it for the long haul and it can be sufficient to sustain you through the temporary troths of your desire-driven thinking.

Intention

In my keynote presentation, “Hope Less Success”, I make a big deal out of telling my audiences there is no such thing as an accidental success. By the very definition of success (the achievement of an intention) you can see how crucial focused intention-based thinking is in achieving the possibility of your promise. In learning to LIVE your promise there is no substitute for intention. Intention is a keen awareness of your current state of progress toward your promise and the distance you will need to travel to close the gap between desire and achievement.

Intention is your internal resolve to do something; to be in control of the outcome as the active, driver of the initiative rather than a passive spectator willing to settle for the result regardless the score or its net effect on you. Intention is the “line in the sand” you will draw that says, “I will not retreat from where I stand. I will only move forward with every fiber of my body dedicated to achieving the possibility of my promise.

Viability

Success does not happen in a vacuum. It requires energy. Lots of it. Without a continuous supply of positive energy your drive to succeed will encounter the friction of entropy and will eventually erode both your attitude and aptitude. To counter this phenomenon, you will need to engage your viability engine.

Viability is your operational state of mind. It tells you that you cannot achieve the possibility of your promise without a deeply committed belief in the sustainability of your vision. Viability is your capacity for tenacity. It is that singular quality of mind that enables you to sustain your desire through belief in your promise’s right to exist. Viability is the reflection of both the competence and confidence you have in your ability to achieve the possibility of your promise.

Viability is your passport into the world of possibility where your desire can be actualized, limited only by your belief in your desire.

Enthusiasm

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

In short, there is no substitute for enthusiasm. Recently, I have encountered several startup companies whose reason for being has less to do with an enthusiasm for the customers they serve as it does for the “big pay day” when then can get acquired. Some of these companies are struggling to hang on. Some are finding it increasingly difficult to define themselves both internally and externally. Others are finding it difficult to attract both customers and investors because they have lost that “lovin’ feeling” for the enterprise they began.

Enthusiasm is an essential element of reaching the possibility of your promise. The phrase, “Do what you love, and the money will come”, is fantastic advice. When you have endless enthusiasm for what you do, your energy will be unlimited as well. Enthusiasm is a clear manifestation of mind over matter. When you hit “the wall”, encounter seeds of doubt, or begin to feel weary enthusiasm can provide the regenerative energy to jump start your desire-driven thinking and propel you toward achieving your promise.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

Over the last two blogs we examined how Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking. In Part I, we looked at The Natural Enemies of Promise – Doubt, Indecision and Entropy and the roles they play in derailing you from achieving the possibility of your promise.

In Part II, we examined The Natural Allies of Promise – Longing, Intention, Viability and Enthusiasm and how they can be harnessed to redirect, reinvigorate and regenerate your desire-driven thinking en route to achieving the possibility of your promise.

Whether you are willing to let the possibility of your promise D.I.E. or L.I.V.E. is a matter of how you think. The choice is up to you.

Thanks for your support as a reader of my blog and I eagerly welcome any comments on how you’re thinking about achieving the possibility of your promise.  Also, I would appreciate any suggestions you might have for future posts in this blog on a topic near and dear to you in the comments section below. As always, please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague.

Bringing Positivity to Everything,
The Brain Tamer