“O” Is For Obsession

By: D. A. Slinkard

We are to letter “O” in our series and the word is “Obsession.” I believe that for anyone to have success they need to become someone who is obsessed with achieving their dreams and their goals. Too many people falter, and when it gets the slightest bit difficult, they want to tuck and run for cover. When a person has an obsession to succeed, you will see them fight through the battles and accomplish whatever their goal may be. Even when things get tough, they are going to stick it out.

How does a person become obsessed with achieving their goals? It is not easy, and it will take some work, but the very first thing you must know is what you want to accomplish. I am surprised how many people go about life not knowing what it is they want to be when they grow up — but the problem is that these people are well into their adult years. Decide what you want to do, and then you must think about everything you must do to accomplish your goal.

If you want to become obsessed about something, it is going to require you to think about it all the time.  You need to consume your life with the thought process being about what or who you want to become.  Most people only think about the ideal situation when it comes to accomplishing their goals; they do not take the time to think about the negative obstacles that will arise and, yes, they will arise. Too many people want to envision a picture-perfect scenario while failing to realize what struggles can exist.

When the concept of who you want to be becomes what you eat, what you breathe, what you sleep – you will become obsessed with achieving your results. This obsession is going to breed a certain hunger that is lacking in many peoples’ lives today. We live in a society in which not many people struggle for the necessities. We live in the greatest country known to man, and because of the first-world problems we have, not as many people are as hungry for success as our grandparents were in the past. This is why we see so many people who still live at home with mommy and daddy because they have not become obsessed with achieving success.

If you take any entrepreneur, you will find someone who is not afraid of making mistakes because making mistakes is how we learn, yet those who do not act because they do not want to make a mistake are the very people who fail in life. We need to be prepared to make mistakes. We need to be prepared to mess up. Life will not be picture perfect and it will be hard, but we must learn how to achieve the positives in life when faced with negatives.

These helicopter parents that only want the best for their children are not helping but are hindering the potential success of their children. We have too many kids in society who do not worry about whether they mess up or not because they know they have their mom or dad to bail them out. If this is who you are as a parent, shame on you. You are part of the problem in society.

So, you know what you want, you know what you need to do, and the next part is to turn these things into actionable steps. Start brainstorming what you need to do to accomplish the steps that need to be. Make yourself a little checklist and start working each day or each week to drawing yourself closer to being able to complete one of these actionable steps, and you will find your success rate increasing. Also, you will find your obsession level elevating because success breeds success. When you begin to taste victory in your life, you are going to want it more, and the hunger will begin to swell up inside of you.

Can you imagine what our society would look like if more and more people had the intense hunger that this country was built upon? Our forefathers built this nation from an obsession to achieve freedom. We live in the land of opportunity, but we must possess an obsession to achieve greatness. We must instill these values in our kids, into our grandkids, and into our public schools to show that obsession brings about a hunger to succeed over failure. Obsession is a good thing.

By: D. A. Slinkard

D.A. Slinkard would love your feedback. You can contact him at da.slinkard@gmail.com