The 7 Essential Elements of Productivity
Element #7: Desire

This is the first article in the series: The 7 Essential Elements of Productivity. Read the other articles here.

Productivity is so much more than just getting things done. Like anything important, being productive begins with a burning desire to see something magical take place.

Photo Credit: pabak sarkar

I wish I could say that I have always been a productivity junkie, or that I was always great at staying focused and executing tasks on a to-do list.

The reality is that I first had the goal of doing amazing things with my life. I wanted to accomplish more. I wanted to become someone better. That’s where all journeys begin — all transformations — all massive growth experiences — all of those times where you thought life should be better than it is.

Start with Desire

You could argue that someone’s willingness to complete a task is rooted in their desire for the outcome. In other words, if you don’t care about the final result, why do the task at all?

This is especially true for all of those goals in life that fall into the “important but not urgent” category. Steven Covey refers to these as Quadrant Two tasks in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

When you really want something to happen, but there is no sense of urgency, it’s still important to you. That task still requires focused attention because your desire to see it through is not diminished by the lack of a hard deadline.

Many people stop at this point and never complete their goal because they think desire is not enough. They’re right, except that they don’t give desire enough credit.

Desire is the critical first step that lays the foundation for knowing what you have set out to achieve and overcoming any obstacles along the way.

“How” is Less Important Than “Why”

Viktor Frankl, a famous holocaust survivor and author, argues in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, that “he who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how.”

Frankl endured some of the most horrific experiences imaginable and came to the conclusion that a strong desire to live, to achieve, and to prosper can literally keep you alive.

At the same time, having that strong will to live and to accomplish great things carries with it a willingness to do just about anything it takes, despite the obstacles, to get to the desired finish line.

HOW something gets done is so much less important than WHY you decided to do it at all.

Define Your Desire

A well defined desire is the vision. It’s the BIG and specific goal that Gary Keller espouses in The ONE Thing.

It’s the craving, the lust, and the addiction to achieving something grand, which propels you forward and gives you a reason to fight when times get tough.

Clarity is essential when you first begin.

It’s common to have a vague or generalized idea of where you’re heading. When you can clarify that vision and clean up that desire to something extremely specific, you will be way ahead of the game in bringing that dream to life.

What Desire is Propelling You Right Now?

Today, my strongest desire is to regain my health and physical fitness, not in a generic “look and feel better” kind of way. I’m on a mission to run the Leadville 100, a 100-mile mountain ultramarathon in the Rockies of Colorado.

That’s the kind of BIG and specific goal that guides real action. Productivity is only possible when a dream like “getting healthier” becomes a tangible outcome like “crossing the finish line at Leadville.”

What’s your desire right now?

Next Week

Next week on the blog I will be sharing the 6th Essential Element of Productivity. Click here to get email updates.