Why Necessity is Critical to Success
Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well;
whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely.— Charles Dickens
You don’t have to show up for life, for work, for your family. You don’t have to climb out of bed on a tough day. You don’t have to care about being the best you can be. You don’t have to strive to live an extraordinary life. And yet, some people do feel they have to. Why?
The answer is a phrase that explains one of the most powerful drivers of human motivation and excellence: performance necessity.
Necessity is the emotional drive that makes great success a must instead of a preference. Unlike weaker desires that make you want to do something, necessity demands that you take action. When you feel necessity, you don’t sit around wishing or hoping. You get things done. Because you have to. There’s not much choice; your heart and soul and the needs of the moment are telling you to act. It just feels right to do something. And if you didn’t do it, you’d feel bad about yourself. You’d feel as though you weren’t living up to your standards, meeting your obligations, or fulfilling your duties or your destiny. Necessity inspires a higher sense than motivation than usual because personal identity is engaged, creating a sense of urgency to act.
This “heart and soul” and “destiny” stuff might sound candy apple and unicorn, but it’s often how successful people describe the motivation behind many of their actions. Success Life driven people work so hard and stay so focused, so committed because; (as they would say)
- It’s just who I am.
- I can’t imagine doing anything else.
- This is what I was made to do.
- Not doing /taking action is not an option
- It must happen
There’s also a sense of obligation and urgency:
- People need me now; they’re counting on me.
- I can’t miss this opportunity.
- If I don’t do this now, I’ll regret it forever.
- I can’t see past not doing it
- It just seemed right
They say things like: “It’s like my whole life and all that I stand for meets the needs of this moment.”
When you have a high necessity, often feel a deep emotional drive and commitment to succeeding, and it consistently forces you to work hard, stay disciplined, and push yourself.
There are four factors in performance necessity: identity, obsession, duty, and urgency. The first two are mostly internal. The second two are mostly external. Each is a driving force of motivation, but together they make you predictably perform at higher levels.
The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment
to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.— Vince Lombardi
Bottom line: We change and improve over time only when we must. When the internal and external forces on us are strong enough, we make it happen. We climb. And when it gets most difficult, we remember our cause. When we are afraid and battling hardship and darkness, we remember we came to this place this time to create change in the world for the better and we will not release that desire easily.
The information above is in part from lessons learned from my coach Brendon Burchard author of High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way
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