He was 17 years old. It was summer, and he was trying to get on the Pro Golf Tour. To prepare, he played 2 rounds of golf every day and hit 400 golf balls at the driving range. He did this every single day of the week without exception. Rain or shine, every day. He wasn’t just golfing three or four times a week, but 14 times. He wasn’t just hitting a few hundred balls a week, but 2,800 balls a week. He wasn’t sleeping in until noon, lounging around the house, or killing time at home (keep in mind he was 17 years old). His hard work turned him into a scratch golfer (i.e, really awesome at golf), and although he didn’t make the tour, he reached his peak golf performance. This is the story of a man named Dave.

I met Dave recently and was amazed at his dedication. It was such an inspiration to hear his story! It reminded me that there are different levels of desiring something. Whenever I find myself trying to achieve a goal I ask myself, “How bad do you really want it George?” And I keep in mind that in life, people can “want it”, people can “really want it”, or people can want it so bad that their hearts are set ablaze by the mere thought of attaining it! This is when you can see it in their eyes that their heart has decided on something and is NOT going to take no for an answer. And that’s how bad I want to want things.

If you decide that it’s worth it to want it, then want it with every atom in your body, every hair on your head and every whisper of your being. Those who do this will not complain about how hard they work or how hard they train, because the effort is minuscule in comparison to the satisfaction of attaining what they desire.

Dave’s story is just one example that demonstrates this, but we all know people who have acted similarly in pursuit of a passion. People who don’t just say they want something, but people who show it and go for it. Most people want more money, more happiness, more things, etc., but are they out there trying to attain these things? If not, then how bad do they really want those things? Probably not much.

I believe that if we truly want something, we enter a whole new realm of possibility. But there is a threshold we must cross to get into this realm. We must decide that no matter what, we will succeed, and we must believe it with the same certainty that the sun will rise and fish will swim. If we do this, nothing can stop us. All we need to do is begin!