How badly do you want it?

It’s that thing that wakes you up in the morning and tells you to get out of bed; it’s that feeling you can’t ignore; it’s a passion that burns for a craft you’re determined to master; it’s the challenge that keeps whispering “you can’t give up now, give it one more try”; it’s there and you need to keep going.

How badly do you want it? This question has been creeping into my thoughts in the most subtle but powerful ways over the past few weeks. Whether it’s a fight song I heard on the radio, an academy award nominated movie that gave me a very real image of the work it takes to be great, or a television show that reminded me to “be worthy of being believed in”, I’ve been inspired to ask myself how badly I want this dream I’ve carried with me for so long.

It’s not a simple conversation to have. It’s about taking the time to ask “is this really what I want and just HOW BADLY do I want it?” Sometimes, the answers aren’t as graceful as we hoped they would be.

You can be anything you want to be. You really can. I believe that in the core of my being. Any person on this earth can become anything they want to be. The question is how BADLY do you want it? Dreams are big and scary and we desperately want them for one basic reason: they change our lives. Dreams force us to realize just how capable we actually are. That’s what scares us the most – seeing ourselves in an entirely different light and knowing that we can never go back to the person we used to be. Their time is done.

We’re all more capable than we realize, whether we choose to believe it or not. We can do so many things, but wanting something and taking the steps to make it happen are two entirely different things.

It’s easy to sit back and admire the life of someone we’d like to emulate. We like to think that easy is better. It doesn’t require effort and it definitely doesn’t require doing anything we’re uncomfortable with. It’s easy. We don’t have to challenge ourselves, we don’t have to have faith beyond foreseeable reason, and we don’t have to leave what we know behind. We can stay who and where we are.

Dreams don’t do easy.

Dreaming is daring to believe that things can be different. Dreaming is taking the single most powerful emotion humans have – hope – and running with it. There’s nothing more powerful than someone who believes, beyond a doubt, that they CAN. Those are the people who have changed the world, the same people we idolize. They dreamt, they dared, they doubted, and they did it anyway.

My question for you on this beautiful new day of your life is how badly do YOU want it? It’s not going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be really, really hard. It’s going to take your blood, sweat, tears, and then some. You’re going to be forced to make some sacrifices, maybe bigger than you can imagine, but it’s all part of the pursuit that captures everything you have and lights your spirit on fire for reasons you may not entirely understand. It’s there. You feel it and there’s nothing you can do to ignore it.

How badly DO YOU want it?

Your choices will answer that question, time and time again. Choose easy and nothing changes. Choose easy and your dream stays a figment of your imagination.

You have to be ready to fight. Fight the voices that try to keep you where you are, your own doubts, and the fear that will paralyze any effort you make. It’s up to you to keep going in spite of anything and anyone who tries to convince you that it’s not worth it. It is. It absolutely is. But you have to KEEP GOING.

Fight a little harder, dig a little deeper, push a little harder.

Feel the burn, the stress, the frustration, and the tears. Feel the fear and tell it to get out of YOUR way. Then… dream bigger.

Believe beyond the doubt, the insecurity, the challenges, and the fear. Do it in spite of everything that tells you, you can’t. Because you CAN.

So… how BADLY do YOU want it?