
Let me share something powerful today. But before we get into it, here’s a short story—one that might sound familiar, but it hits different when you reflect on it deeply.
The Beach Story: Want It Like You Want to Breathe
A young man once went to a guru and said, “I want to be successful. Please teach me how.”
The guru looked at him and simply said, “Meet me tomorrow at 5 AM at the beach.”
The next morning, curious and hopeful, the man showed up. The guru was already there, waiting. Without much talk, he asked the man to follow him into the water. They walked until the water reached their waists.
“Close your eyes,” said the guru. The man obeyed.
And in that moment, the guru suddenly grabbed his head and pushed it underwater.
Seconds passed. The man began to panic. He thrashed and struggled, desperate for air. Just when it seemed like he’d pass out, the guru pulled him back up.
Gasping, furious, the man shouted, “What were you trying to do?! Kill me?”
The guru calmly asked, “What did you want most when you were under the water?”
“I just wanted to breathe!”
The guru replied, “When you want success as badly as you just wanted to breathe, you’ll get it.”
And that, my friends, is the secret.
When you truly want something—badly, deeply, desperately—it starts to reshape your actions, your thoughts, and even the world around you.
More Than Wanting—It’s Obsession
When I say want something badly, I’m not talking about a passing wish. I mean obsession. The kind of desire that takes over your thoughts, day and night. The kind that overrides fear, embarrassment, or self-doubt.
In my life, I’ve felt this only a few times—four or five, maybe. But each time, something remarkable happened.
Even when people around me, including friends and family, encouraged me to give up—saying it was impossible, impractical, or simply “too much”—I just couldn’t stop. The obsession didn’t let me. Looking back, it might seem foolish, maybe even borderline irrational, but in those moments, the only thing I knew was: I want this.
Not “I believe I’ll get it,” but simply: I want this so much, I’m ready to do whatever it takes.
It’s not about magic. It’s about the magnitude of your desire. When you’re truly committed, the world seems to bend ever so slightly in your favor.
A Childhood Example That Still Feels Unreal
Let me share something that might sound silly or unbelievable, but it’s stayed with me all these years.
When I was a kid, we used to play with glass marbles—goli, as we called them. I didn’t have many, but I wanted a bunch. Not just a few—a lot. I remember one night, I had a dream. In the dream, I was digging under a tree near our apartment, and I found hundreds of marbles.
The next day, while playing, that dream stuck with me. I walked up to the exact tree from the dream and started digging in the mud. I can still picture that moment—it must’ve been during the rainy season. To my utter shock, I actually found a pile of marbles buried there.
Now, was it pure coincidence? Maybe. But to me, it felt like the universe whispered back: When you want something deeply, strange things can happen.
That event shaped something in me—it became part of what I believe.
When You Commit, Providence Moves
One quote that has stayed with me over the years is:
“When one is committed, providence moves too.”
I came across it in one of the early self-help books I read, long before it became popular in movies or pop culture. In Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan’s character echoes a similar sentiment:
“Agar aap kisi cheez ko shiddat se chaho, toh poori kaaynaat usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.”
While the movie made the idea famous, I had believed in this principle long before that line reached the masses. For me, this quote wasn’t just poetic—it was real. I had lived through it.
It’s as if, when your desire is pure, deep, and aligned with who you are, the world does start to respond. Not magically—but meaningfully.
Why Not Every Wish Comes True
You might wonder—if this is true, why doesn’t every dream come true?
Because not every desire becomes obsession. You can’t fake it. You can’t just decide to want something with that intensity. It doesn’t work like that.
For me, those moments of obsession were rare—and that’s the point. You can’t manufacture them at will. They happen when the desire is so aligned with your values, your identity, your soul—that it consumes you. There’s no inner conflict. No “should I or shouldn’t I?” You just know.
And when that happens, you stop doubting. You stop fearing. You act. Massive action flows naturally because you have to.
Desire: The First Step to Everything
Think and Grow Rich, the mother of all self-help books, begins with this very idea:
Desire is the starting point of all achievement.
Tony Robbins says something similar in his four-step formula for success:
- Know what you want
- Take massive action
- Learn from feedback
- Adapt and keep going
But everything begins with Step 1: Know what you want.
That kind of clarity—where you know exactly what you want—is what fuels the rest. And once the obsession kicks in, even massive action starts to feel natural.
Final Thoughts
So if you’re sitting on a dream, don’t worry about the how. Don’t overthink the odds or the obstacles.
That used to be one of my mistakes—I’d get excited about a goal and then immediately start doubting, “But how will I make it happen?” That doubt would kill the drive.
But when I’ve truly wanted something—badly, deeply, like that man underwater who just wanted to breathe—those doubts didn’t even show up. The desire was too loud.
And that’s the secret.
Find that one thing you want so badly, you’d move mountains to get it. When you’re aligned, obsessed, and unafraid—that’s when real transformation happens.
If you prefer listening over reading, here’s the video version of this message from my YouTube channel:
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