 I was born in the year 1986 with the sickle cell disease. To make my case worse, my literate parents never knew there was anything in the world called sickle cell disease, so they never took me to a hospital until I was 14. While my health challenge needed tons of money to manage, my father could not even afford the money to feed and close me properly, so I was in a big mess all through my childhood. Luckily for me, when I turned 17, my health challenge started fading away. Up till the time of making this video, I don't know any medical or scientific reason for my improved health, but I know I'm healthier even though I still remain a sickle cell patient. That's actually not where I'm going with my story. You see, immediately my health started to improve, I started becoming a desperate young man. My childhood experience had made me to hate poverty, disease or anything outside a good life. At 18, the way I saw the world was completely different from how almost anyone I knew saw the world. I started to look at the world as a place to fight for a good life or to die fighting. When I was 20, if you had prophesied that I would die, I wouldn't have much problem about your prophecy, but if you had prophesied that I would end up being a poor adult, I would probably slap you. I mean, imagine Alexander the Great in 334 BC thinking of conquering the world. That is who I was, the guy who thinks nothing in the world can stop him. You see, Napoleon Hill said, the starting point of all achievement is burning desire. Burning desire. Burning desire. The primary secret to every success is burning desire. Many people in our world today want so many great things, but only very few people have their desired life. What do you think is the problem? Well, wishing is nothing. Simon Eccles said, wishes are only granted in fairy tales. In fairy tales, whatever the character wishes can appear. However, in real life, burning desire is the only thing that makes people get what they want out of life. The starting point of all achievement is burning desire. Why wishing is nothing. Let's assume that you wish you could build a successful business, do some weight or have a great marriage. The next thing you'll be confronted with is the reality about what it takes to achieve those goals you set. Building a business that succeeds is more difficult than building a skyscraper with leaves. There'll be a little exaggeration there, but you get the point. Losing weight is not ABC and having a great marriage requires more work than almost any 17-year-old can imagine. Now you see why people don't get what they wish they could get. Often, you'll have to go through hell to get to heaven, and that's where the problem lies. If you don't want heaven as bad as you want oxygen, you can't endure hell. If you don't have a strong burning desire that makes you want to seem as if it is the only thing that makes your life worthwhile, you won't be able to endure the fire. I hate to say this, but I have to say it. You won't get what you want out of life most times if you're not willing to die looking for it. The starting point of all achievement is burning desire. The Story That Changed My Life In 2007, I came across Napoleon Hill's most famous book, Think and Grow Reach for the first time. I borrowed this book from a friend and as I was reading, I came across the story about a military general who wanted to wage war against his superior army. When he got to the battlefield, he asked his soldiers to destroy the ship, which was the only means they had to escape. This general then looked at his men and said, See, if we win, we'll leave this place with our enemy's sheep, but if we can't win, then we'll all die here because there's no sheep for us to escape. The above story changed my life forever. Because of the above story, I made the decision never to have a degree in my life, so I told myself, you'll have no degree, which means nobody's going to give you any job. If you do not qualify for a good job, then you'll die poor except you can build your own business. All the eight years I was struggling in the business world, the only thing that kept me fighting was I didn't have two options. There wasn't any plan B for me. The only thing I could do was keep on trying to build a successful business. Today, so many people have plan B and plan C. Because these people have options between fire and water, they can easily shift, move and give up. These people may have wishes or wants. Some of them can even have some desire, but they can never have the burning desire they need to fight with all of their strength. The starting point of all achievement is burning desire. How reach people make you poor? About three weeks ago I traveled down to my hometown and as I was having a conversation about my business with someone in my family, when there was a need for me to explain my company's business model, I did so. But immediately after I explained to this man, I started feeling guilty. I started feeling guilty because my explanation made everything seem simple and probably easy, but I was honest. My explanation was just what it is. It explains what my company does and how we make money. However, the problem is that my audience is likely to be tempted that what we are doing is easy and anyone can do it. What he wouldn't know and which I can explain to him for him to understand is the fact that the simple business model we have today does a result of one and a half decades of learning and making mistakes. This is where I'm going with the story. Successful people appear to have done simple things because they became successful. Because of this appearance, most people in the world aren't expecting that they would have to fight hard before they succeed. Think about a movie. When you sit down to watch a movie, what do you think about the actors? Well, their jobs never seem like something difficult, right? Yet the best actors in the world spend thousands of hours to practice before you and I even know they exist. Until this day, they still practice like slaves. I mean, look at Michael Jackson. He got to the stage and danced. Whether he sang or danced, everything seemed effortless. But look behind this man and you'll see a man who practices eight long hours most days of his life. The same thing happens with wealth. And that's why many people think they can become rich by wanting to be rich. They simply think it's simple and should be easy. This is a trap you have to avoid because if you don't expect a war, you won't prepare for one. If you don't know that success in life only comes after a long fight, you would lack that burning desire to fight. The starting point of all achievement is burning desire. How to know you have a burning desire? At this point, you're definitely asking me, Steve, how do I know if I have a burning desire for what I want to achieve? I have a simple answer for that. You'll stop having a life outside such a dream. Let me explain this with a personal story. When I decided to become rich by all righteous means possible, nothing again had significant space in my heart except the thought of wealth. I woke up in the morning to think about wealth, go out to try how to make my business successful, come back in the evening to read about money and seek the company of only people who talk about wealth. I mean, it's like being thrown in the river. You're in it and your whole body is wet. Nothing in you is dry. If you have a burning desire for something, it becomes your very life. You dream it, drink it, talk it, read it and even fight for it. Now, let me give you some examples of how people can wish and not really desire success. I have a 37-year-old friend who never read a book about money, even though he is broke and wishes to have money. This is a clear sign that he doesn't really have a burning desire for money, even though he might want it. I have another Christian friend who will never talk about money. To him, talking about money means you're becoming covetous. This guy is broke and wants money, but he lacks the burning desire for wealth. I know other people who hate the rich. These people talk evil about anyone who seems to have too much money. To them, every rich person is a thief, a liar or both. Well, you can never have a strong desire for wealth and think everyone who is wealthy must be evil. That is like saying, I want to be a bad person. No, you can't. So, here's a summary of this video. Nothing in life goes to people who dream or want. Any significant achievement you hope for must be strongly desired. Its thought must consume you like watersoaks whoever gets inside. You must think it, talk it, try it, read about it and run after it minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day and months after months. The starting point of all achievement is burning desire. If it can't be the center of your whole life, you can't get it. I hope this video helps someone. My name is Steve Courage. I'm a Nigerian truck in Europe based in Lagos. If you wish to know more about me, see my face or consume videos I make with my face, check the description box and join my new channel. I love you.