You want to be successful; in your marriage, at work, in sales, as a parent, at skiing, at life, at whatever.  We all do. We all want to be successful at something or somethings.  Right?  Who doesn’t?

There is a secret and it rests in this story.

A young woman wants to get more out of life. She decides to seek out help in a well known success guru. She works hard to get a meeting with him and she is proud of herself when he agrees to meet her.  She arrives at the meeting and shares with the guru she wants to be as successful as he is and wants to know how to do it. She says she wants to get the most out of life.

The guru looks at her and pauses, as if determining whether or not she is worthy of his guidance. After a moment, he asks her to meet him at the beach at 4:00 am the next morning.

She arrives the beach the next day at the 3:55 a.m. She’s ready. She has on her best suit. She’s prepared and excited.

She looks out into the surf to see the guru is already in the water. She waves to him and he motions her to the water’s edge.  Walking on her tippie toes, as to not get her heels stuck in the sand, she walks to the edge of the surf, just to where the waves roll up.

The guru motions her to come into the water.  The young woman states the obvious to the guru; “I’m in my best suit.”

The guru responds with; “Do you want to learn the secret to success?”

Reluctantly, the young woman wades out into the water.  Her Jimmy Choos, now in her hand, are held high above her head to avoid getting them wet. As she wades out, the guru backs up into deeper water, motioning her to come to him. She wades further and further until she is at her waste. She stops and says; “OK, what is the secret?”

The guru smiles and motions her to come further.

The young woman is unwilling. She demands to know what the secret is and she won’t go any further.

The guru smiles again and says; “You’ve come this far, it’s only a few more steps. You’ve already ruined your suit, you might as well get something for it.”

Unable to argue with the logic, the young woman wades further out into the ocean. She reaches the guru and finds herself up to her chin.  She then, frustrated, cold and irritated demands the guru now tell he the secret.

Just as the last word comes out of her mouth, the guru grabs her head and pushes it under water. He holds it there. The young woman can’t lift if up. She begins to thrash and kick. She drops her Jimmy Choos and uses all her might to lift her head out of the water. As she is struggling, the guru continues to keep her head underwater, not allowing her air.

Just as the young woman is about to lose consciousness, he let’s her up.

Her head comes flying out of the water and she grasps for air. Before she can say a word and before she can even get her breath back, the guru asks her one question; “What did you want most while you were underwater?

The young woman, panicked and scared, unable to answer the question, starts cussing at the guru.

The guru stared at the young woman with no reaction. Emotionless and calm, he asked the question again.  “What did you want most while you were underwater?”

The young woman started to settle down. Looking into the guru’s eyes and seeing his calm and unaffected demeanor she exhales and says; “To breathe!”

The guru then smiles at her and says; “You now have the secret to success. When you want, whatever it is out of life you want, as much as you want to breathe when you are drowning, you will have it.”

The guru turned and swam away.

The young woman turned looked at the beach in front of her and started back to shore, leaving her Jimmy Choos at the bottom of the ocean.

This is my own version of the story.  You may have heard it before.  I hadn’t until this morning. I heard it as I watched this video.

I’ve talked about the role hard work plays in our success. I am guilty, more than I’d like to admit of NOT wanting it more than I want to breathe. When that happens, I get exactly what I deserve, less than I wanted.

Watch the video. It’s worth it. As you watch it, whenever the pastor says “successful” add, at marriage, at sales, at leadership, at parenting, at golf, at skiing, at blogging at . . . what ever it is you want to be successful at.  Then, at the end, ask yourself of  things you say want or you have wanted do you want them as much as you want to breathe?

You will learn a LOT!

Desire is at the core of all motivation. You have to want it bad enough to get it.