Your Relationship with Desire Shapes Your Impact

You want stuff. It’s only human.

I want stuff too. I’m only human.

But I bet the ‘stuff’ that you want isn’t necessarily stuff, objects, hunks of physical reality. Or at least, it’s not ALL of what you want.

You want impact. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t.

We all start off as little desire machines. We want to be fed, have our diaper changed. We want to be loved.

While that last one doesn’t change, our other desires do shift. We want toys, then electronics, then cars, then houses.

All that stuff is nice. But it doesn’t address the heart.

The essence of who you are calls out for something more. You desire impact.

The thing is, as you grow up, your relationship with desire shifts. As an infant, it’s just a naked wanting for basic care. I hope that you weren’t left wanting, that your basic needs were met.

As you grew, and your desires increased beyond those basic ones, you had experiences where your desires weren’t fulfilled. You wanted that girl to be your friend. You wanted to excel in a sport. You wanted to go to a good college.

You may have been told not to want, that your desires were too much, not reasonable, more than you could possibly attain. Or that what you wanted was wrong somehow. You may have learned that what you wanted, you couldn’t get.

All those experiences, all those voices in your head about not wanting too much, may have diminished what you want. It’s no longer other people that are stopping you. It’s you.

Your diminished desire holds you back from having the impact you could have.

I’m not pointing fingers. The reaso
I can say this is because I’ve lived it. I’ve diminished desire in many ways throughout my life. We all have.

I’ve been reasonable. I’ve set modest, achievable goals. I’ve even achieved many of them. But those achievements don’t address my desire to have more impact.

Disappointments can shape us, if we let them. They can shape your impact.

You may have toned down your desire for impact. You may have made your goals for impact more ‘reasonable’.

Your impact is a deep expression of who you are. It reflects an essence of you that is unique, that no one else has or can have.

Diminishing your desire for impact rains on the parade of who you are and what you can bring to others.

I’m done diminishing my desire for impact. In fact, I’m ramping it up. I’m tapping into my desire. I want to have more impact than ever before. Dare I even say it - world changing impact.

See, it’s operating all the time. Dare I even want to have this impact? Who do I think I am? What will other people think?

Are you feeling that in your work, in your life? Are these COVID-19 pandemic times lighting a flame in you to be a bigger you, to contribute more, to be a leader in changing the world in a positive, remarkable way?

Or maybe you’re just fed up with being diminished, with diminishing yourself.

If you are, keep that flame burning, that desire for impact.

Desire leads to planning, planning leads to action, and action leads to impact.

Diminished desire leads to half-assed planning, reluctant or below-the-radar action, and less impact.

Your impact matters. To all of us, and especially to you. Start to let go of diminishing your desire for impact.

I’m cheering for you. Let’s do this.