Core Desires - My Mountain Epiphany

Right now, as I write this, I'm on top of a mountain, taking a day to be alone to think and to meditate.

A depressing discovery

Let me back up a little. I took some time yesterday to try and come up with a plan for change. As I went through years and years of my files containing goals and lists of changes I wanted to make I became very depressed. I saw a pattern of doing the same thing over and over and never making any real progress. For a brief moment as I sat at my desk at home I just felt like giving up, like it was a losing battle that I'll never get a handle on.

I have to confess - I am a goal and list person - meaning I like to make lists of my goals, the changes I want to make. When I saw how many lists of goals I had made over the years and how I seem to be writing the same things over and over again and never making any progress - well, that really got me down.

So when I went to bed last night I was pretty bummed and I couldn't sleep. I knew there must be some other way this is all done. I went to my library and looked through my books and pulled three out. I had already read these books so I just wanted to skim and read those things that I had underlined. The first two books were okay but the third book really made sense. It is entitled The DNA of Success by Jack M. Zufelt. I was up until 2:00 a.m. reading.

An enlightening discovery

He pretty much described me and my failure at making goals work. Then he talked about Core Desires. I won't go into a lot of detail here but in a nutshell your Core Desires are those things you want so much and are so much a part of you that you don't have to write it down. It's inscribed in your heart. He talked about the idea that there are times when you decide to do something and for one reason or another you just can't get it done. You procrastinate and it just doesn't happen. And then there are other times when you get your mind on something and you just can't stop, you're obsessed with it, you can stay up all hours of the night and you have tons of energy.

The difference between the two is the second one involved a Core Desire and the first one didn't. So the book really made sense to me - that perhaps much of what I was trying to accomplish was unrelated to my Core Desires or at least I need to look at it as a means to accomplish my Core Desires.

Michael Jordan

One example he gave that hit me hard was of Michael Jordan. No one can dispute that this man is an amazing success - yet he never had to sit down and write out his goals. It was coded in his DNA that he wanted to be the best basketball player there ever was. He didn't have to write this down or make long lists of changes he needed to make. He saw in his mind and heart exactly who he wanted to be and worked every day at achieving that. He says:

I have the desire to become the best person and player I can become, but I approach everything step by step. It's all mental for me. I never write anything down. I just concentrate on the next step. I envision what kind of person and player I want to become and I approach it with that end in mind. I know exactly where I want to go, and I focus on getting there.

Because he did that, all of the details took care of themselves. Instead of driving himself like a taskmaster he was totally motivated and driven internally to reach his aim, his Core Desire.

Yearnings, desires, passions

I see now where I have been going about it all wrong. What's funny is I have hit upon this idea from time to time in my notes and writings but never recognized it for how powerful it truly was. In fact just recently I was out for a hike in the morning. As I do from time to time I recorded my thoughts on a micro-cassette recorder. This is what I said:

June 13, 2007 - Sometimes we focus on the smaller things like getting up on time or overeating or whatever, and those are good things. But what we need more is an overall self-image of who we are. Sometimes if we see the big picture or the overall image of ourselves then the little things fall into place.

As I've said before, I believe God gives us clues about what our purpose is in this life, what our life's mission is. We need to examine our yearnings and desires and passions and understand that God doesn't just put them there to torment us. He doesn't give us these yearnings and desires for no reason at all any more than he doesn't give a honey bee the desire to seek and gather nectar without the existence of a flower. It's a natural thing. You have desires and yearnings because you really do have a purpose in this life and you really do have the possibility of achieving it. That's my belief.

So there you have it. There is another way to achieve that doesn't require goals, motivational speakers, positive mental attitudes, affirmations or visualizations. Some of these may be the wheels on the train but they don't provide the steam. Your Core Desires provide the steam.

A prime example

It's interesting that as I learn about this concept of Core Desires I can now look back in my life and see where I have experienced it without realizing it. In fact, my creation of this website is a prime example. It was only one month ago that I came across the concept of creating a website such as this. I saw how it had the possibility of fulfilling several of my Core Desires. I dove in head first, so-to-speak. My every waking moment found me thinking and pondering this idea. I was totally obsessed with it and began immediately to work on it. You could hardly call it work - it was total enjoyment for me. I created one whole website and wasn't satisfied with it and scrapped it and created another. I learned all I could about websites and blogging and on and on. It was pure enjoyment for me because it was helping fulfill one of my Core Desires.

The poem from the past

Its funny how my past comes back to haunt me or bless me at times. Ironically many years ago, before I was even married, I had come across an unnamed poem that I liked so much that I committed it to memory. Since I didn't know its name I entitled it Desire. I haven't recited it or even thought about it in years and yet a framed copy of it hangs in my office. It's ironic because of how precisely it describes what I'm talking about today. This is the poem:

Desire(Author unknown)

If you want something bad enoughTo go out and fight for it,To work day and night for it,To give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it,

If only the desire of it makes your aim strong enoughNever to tire of it,And life seems all empty and useless without it,And all that you dream and scheme is about,

If gladly you'll sweat for it,Fret for it, plan for it,Pray with all your strength for it,

If you'll simply go after the thing that you wantWith all your capacity, strength and sagacity,Faith, hope, confidence and stern pertinacity,

If neither poverty nor cold nor famish nor gauntNor sickness nor pain of body or brainWill keep you away from the aim that you want,

If you're dogged and grim,Besiege and beset it,And you'll get it!

I have recited that poem perhaps a hundred times over the years, but today, for me, it has new meaning.

Mission in Life and Core Desires

Things don't happen in your life unless you have a deep desire for it, a passion for it. You can write down all the goals you want but unless they are tied to your Core Desires they just aren't going to happen.

I suggest you read my articles entitled: An Overpowering Mission in Lifeand Ponder Your Life - Find Your Mission. What these articles do is help you understand and discover your Mission in Life, which, in reality, is the fulfillment of your Core Desires. As I continue to learn more about these concepts I will share with you what I learn. Thank you.