Desire comes first

I fished a two day tournament this weekend. The fishing was slow so we had long periods of nothing to do but talk. The guys that I fished with wanted to know how I became successful in business. I told them that first and foremost I attribute my success to God and becoming a Christian. Prior to that blessed event I was a complete reprobate and scum. In other words without God I was a complete wreck; it was only after I became a Christian that things turned around for me. However I did not become a Christian one day and then the next I was suddenly financially set for life.

When I finally got my head straightened out spiritually, I entered the work force in a menial position. I did not have a college degree and/or any work experience aside from laborer type positions and in fact did not even have a car and had to ride the bus to work. My first job was the lowest position available. I did, however, rapidly ascend to management level. In fact I was promoted eight times in just my first two years. Later when I started my first business it became successful and I have continued to succeed with subsequent endeavors ever since.

When I worked for other companies, why was I promoted when others were not? Eleven out of twelve businesses fail, why did the eight businesses that I founded all succeed? I attribute my success to my work ethic and my strong desire to succeed. One might rightly ask, “What about blessings from God?” God did bless me, but not by showering me with money. In other words, I did not win a lottery, or inherit money, or receive help from a sugar daddy; rather God presented opportunities to me and I used my strong work ethic complemented by a very strong desire to succeed in order to take advantage of them.

My belief is that God presents opportunities to everyone, but we need to put the “shoe leather to the pavement” in order to make them into success stories. As I grow old, based upon my observations, I have come to the conclusion that a lack of ambition seems to go along with a lousy work ethic and I believe that deadly combination to be the foremost reason that I see folks fail to achieve their dreams.

If you desire something badly enough then you will work diligently to achieve it, but the key is desiring it so badly that you are willing to get up early and if necessary stay late and God forbid even work on a hallowed “Saturday” in order to achieve your goals. To this day I rarely work less than fifteen hours per day. I’m really 24/7 and every waking moment I am thinking about my goals. I do this because I like to dream up projects and then see them become reality and succeed wildly. I am “fired up” about these opportunities and it is great fun to me!

Look to our God. He is our model and His Bible is our instruction manual. He created the universe and all that we know. God is not lazy; He works diligently and has designed us to do the same. All through the Bible there are references to having a winning attitude and maintaining a strong work ethic. Don’t be a lazy bones who hates their job and work in general. Find something that you want to accomplish and go after it. This ain’t no dress rehearsal and is your one and only shot at achieving anything in this old world. Go for it!

Proverbs: 13:4
The soul of a lazy man desires
and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent
shall be made rich.