Perspectives That Serve #6 - Determined Desire

You got to want to. Red hot burning desire leads to energy, action, and another mind set called creativity. All these work together in concert to accomplish or achieve something.

And all that suggests a prerequisite. In order to have desire you have to have a clear outcome, target, or intention that is naturally compelling. And behind that clear compelling outcome there must be a compelling purpose. The “why” must be big enough to generate desire. “Why’s” are intensely personal. You may have to search for yours.

The dictionary defines determination as “firmness of purpose, will, or intention”. I would call determination “sustained desire”. Determination is desire that lasts. When we were kids many of us want to be firemen one day, cowboys the next day, and super hero crime fighters the day after that. We lack firmness of purpose or sustained desire. The problem comes when we don’t develop the mind set of determination moving into adulthood.

How do you develop the determination it takes to stay with something long enough to see it through? Sometimes it is just a matter of discipline and developing the toughness to be with the pain, fatigue, etc… that accompanies the accomplishment of a worthwhile outcome. Determination requires a kind of “doing within while we are doing without”. That is it requires keeping mental image of the desired outcome firmly fixed in our minds as we are getting through the going through stage. It requires us to imagine the benefits set before us.

Lastly, we need to learn how to select purposes, projects, and processes that align with our God given talents, gifts, and abilities. Misplaced determination leads to frustration, failure, and the tendency to be leery of applying ourselves in the future. No matter how determined I am, I’m not going to become a professional boxer or a center on an NBA Basketball team. Had I been more determined, I might have come close as a professional baseball player. I think I had some of the tools but chose not to cultivate the desire and necessary determination.

This is the rub of determination. How do we know if we have selected a goal that aligns with our talents? Our parents don’t always know or give us the best advice. Our teachers and coaches don’t always know either. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.