There are basics of life that we often ignore but ignoring them are costing us the joy that we can experience if we bring them into our daily living. In the previous article, we talked about the three drives of living large. Now let us consider looking at the three key elements to living large. They are direction, desire and daily drive.
First, direction. It is not enough to have an ambition in life. Often times, our ambitions are in pieces. Disconnected. Separate from a large whole. To benefit from them, we have to bring them all together in a direction that is grander than life, bigger than us – to that something that is aligned to our purpose in life.
When we have a direction, we will be more guided. We will minimize wastage of time, effort and resources. We will be able to put together our actions into a motion that is directed to one ultimate goal encompassing all that must be accomplished in life.
Second, desire. Sometimes, the problem is not the absence of big dreams but the absence of desire to accomplish those dreams. Desire is the fuel that will keep the flame. Desire is the fuel that will keep the engine moving. Desire is the fuel that will keep the vehicle moving to the destination it wants to arrive at.
Without desire, it would be easy for us to give up. Without desire, it would be easy to become complacent. Without desire, it would be easy to quit.
Desire can come from processed pains of the past, the purpose of the present, and the prize of the future. When we have a good grasp of these three, we can have a full tank of desire that will support us as we go through the direction we ought to go.
Third, daily drive. There is no such things as overnight success. There has always been a process – usually a long one – before an achievement is reached. In one of his articles, I like when John Maxwell shared these: It took 26 months to build the Eiffel Tower; it took Da Vinci 4 years to paint the Mona Lisa; it took Michelangelo 4 years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; it took Leo Tolstoy over 6 years to write War and Peace; it took around 30 years to build the Great Pyramid; it took over 40 years before Beethoven’s Fur Elise was performed; and it took Noah 100 years to build the ark.
There goes the importance of a daily drive, daily action, daily habit or routine. It is a requirement of the law of accumulation. Things do not just happen. They were caused by multiple ingredients and elements that have gathered through time through the years. A million started from each single peso. A boulder started from each grain or particle of soil. A marathon is finished every single stride at a time.
Daily drive entails daily action and determination that is aligned to the direction you want to go to. Daily drive is fueled by the desire. It is the daily drive where the direction and desire is manifested in concrete and visible form.
It has to be emphasized that daily drive comes with consistency. That’s why it is called daily. Not once-in-a-while drive. It is a daily drive.
Put these three elements together and you will have increased chances of living a large life. This is a great challenge for you and me: to have that direction, desire and daily drive to push forward and further for a life that is filled with joy and meaning.
Stay tuned for more concrete steps to living large.
(Chris Dao-anis, as an author and speaker, helps aspiring and young professionals become better communicators and leaders. His first book ‘The Gift of the Ordinary’ is available at Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City and in Central Bookstores in Cebu and Metro Manila. For talks, seminars and speech coaching, email him at chrisdaoanis@ymail.com. You can order his newest book at a special pre-launch price today at www.chrispoweracademy.com/livinglarge. Pre-launch offer ends on August 27.)