Lesson 2: Create a Burning Desire to become a Laureate
To become a Laureate, you first need a burning desire to become one. The truth is, you need to want it more than anybody else.
If you don’t want it bad enough, you’ll never get it.
Your desire should not merely be a hope. It should not merely be a wish either. Instead, it should be a radiating, pulsating desire, which dominates your thoughts every single day. Remember the time when you were a kid, and you wanted something so bad that it hurts? This is how bad you need to want to become a Laureate. It is the only thing that will keep you motivated during the arduous race to become one. At first, when the desire to become a Laureate first appeared in your mind, it probably was only a wish. If you have already turned this wish into a burning desire, you have my congratulations! You are on the right track!
If you still need to find such a strong desire, don’t worry! My goal for this lesson is to give you a framework on how to change this mere wish into a burning desire, which in turn will become the dominating dream of your life. Only then will you be equipped to translate your dream of becoming a Laureate into reality. Wishing will not make you a Laureate. But desiring to become a Laureate with a state of mind that becomes almost a healthy obsession, then planning concrete ways to achieve it, and backing those plans with persistence and perseverance, will make you a Laureate.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a burning desire to become a Laureate.
Step 1: Make your objective as specific as possible.
From Lesson 1, this should be:
Achieving FULL MARKS in all your subjects.
You can write this in big, bold letters and place it where you can see it at least 2 times every day. I suggest you put it near your bed. By doing so, you’ll see it once when you wake up and once when you go to sleep. Looking at your objective every day before going to bed makes sure that you go to bed with a dream, which is your dream of becoming a Laureate. Looking at the same objective every day when waking up makes sure that you wake up with a Purpose, which is your purpose of becoming a Laureate. Your dream and your purpose are two sides of the same coin. Both are essential to creating a burning desire to become a Laureate.
Step 2: Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for becoming a Laureate.
Becoming a Laureate is not easy. It requires a LOT of sacrifices. Are you ready to make those sacrifices? Of course, you are. If you did not have what it takes to become a Laureate, you would not be reading this lesson right now. However, you must make clear to yourself what you intend to give in return for the prize of becoming a Laureate. This will add clarity and focus to your goal, both of which are vital ingredients to strengthen your desire. You also need to determine what you are NOT willing to sacrifice to become a Laureate. For example, my list was somewhere along these lines:
What am I willing to sacrifice to become a Laureate?
My Time – You’ll need to dedicate a lot of hours towards your studies to become a Laureate.
My Money (or My Parent’s Money) – Are you willing to buy the books you need? Are you willing to pay for private tuition for those subjects that you are weak in?
Some of my hobbies – You might reduce the amount of time and energy you spend on some of your hobbies. For example, if you are a gamer, you might want to reduce the amount of time you spend on video games. I’m a gamer too. However, I limited my playtime to Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Also, you don’t need to cut back on all your hobbies. If a hobby makes you happy and you are not spending an excessive amount of time and energy on it, don’t discard it.
Some “friends” – Notice that I have put “friends” inside inverted commas. Not everybody is your friend, especially when you want to become a Laureate. As a rule, you should be willing to cut ties with peers who are not supportive of your goals. For example, if someone influences you in the wrong way, you’ve got no business being friends with them. These include “friends” who make you waste excessive amounts of time by “hanging out” instead of studying and “friends” who want to induce you to develop bad habits such as smoking, drinking and taking drugs.
What am I not willing to sacrifice to become a Laureate?
My Mental Health – Nothing is worth more than your mental health. Always remember this.
My Physical Health – Becoming a Laureate does not mean that you should neglect your nutrition and completely cut down on physical activity. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
My Relationships with my close friends and family – You don’t need to alienate yourself from everybody around you and study non-stop for 15 hours a day to become a Laureate. There needs to be some balance in your life.
Note that this is neither an exhaustive nor a definitive list. What you include on and exclude from this list is entirely up to you. It is important to make sacrifices, but it is equally essential to be wise about what you are sacrificing.
Step 3: Bear in mind the amount of time you have left before the exams.
This will help you evaluate where you are now and how much effort you need to put in to achieve your goal of obtaining full marks in ALL your subjects.
Step 4: Create a concrete plan to achieve your full marks goal and begin at once, whether you are ready or not.
For now, you may use your creativity to come up with a plan. In-depth advice on strategies you should employ is given in Part 2 of the book.
Step 5: Write down a clear and brief statement.
Write down a concise statement summarising step 1-4. This is the crucial part if you want to create a burning desire to become a Laureate. By writing this down, you are acknowledging your dream and that you have the power to translate it into reality.
As the Great Napoleon Hill said:
Dreams are the seedlings of reality.
Step 6: Read the statement aloud twice a day.
Doing so will help you imagine yourself as a Laureate. Once you can start regularly imagining yourself a Laureate and everything that comes with it (money, glory and all that stuff), you will have created a burning desire to become one. Every time you read your statement, see, feel, and believe yourself already a Laureate. If you genuinely desire to become a Laureate, and your desire becomes a healthy obsession, you will have no difficulty in persuading yourself that you will achieve it.
An Important Note.
Sometimes, you’ll encounter people who will discourage you and try to extinguish this desire. This is how the world works. Very few people genuinely want you to succeed. So, make a promise to yourself that you won’t listen to people who discourage you and tell you that you cannot make it. Often, these will be your friends and family. Sometimes, it might even be your teachers. At other times, it might be complete strangers just telling you that you can’t make it. They don’t know you. They don’t know what you are capable of. Only you know that your potential is limitless, and your job is to show the world that you can do it. Words are just words. They are just sounds coming from a hole in a person’s face. Are you really going to let yourself be defeated by this? Of course not!
Thus, the Key Takeaway is:
If you do not see yourself becoming a Laureate in your imagination, you will never see yourself becoming a Laureate in reality.
Do you have any questions or comments? Post them below!