Have you ever “tested” yourself on one of those arcade “Passion-Meters?” You squeeze the handle and the light moves from “BLAH” at the bottom all the way to “HOT STUFF” at the top. In high school, you just hope it lands on something “steamy” in front of all your friends!

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could measure our passion for our dreams as easily? Just drop a quarter in the machine, squeeze the handle, and see what your odds for success are!

This time of year is filled with people making resolutions to change their life, go back to school, start a business, get serious about that dream. But what is the number one factor that will cause some people to achieve their goals while others never grasp their full potential? Passion. How passionate are you? How badly do you want what you say you want? The bottom line is: if you desire something strong enough…you will get it. How much you want something dictates your behavior and reflects the level of effort you are willing to make.

I believe there is a way we can measure our passion. How? By the results in our lives. If you really want to lose weight, you will. If you really want to get out of debt, you will. If you really want to start a business, you will. If you really want to go on a European cruise, you will. If you really want to draw closer to God, you will. It’s simple, we do what we really want to do!

If a guy really wants to go out with a girl, he will! He will call. He will text. He will show up. He will do these things because he wants to. If he doesn’t desire her enough, he won’t call, he won’t text, he won’t show up.

WE DO WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO!

Maybe you’re thinking, “But I really do want to…lose weight, get out of debt, or get married.” I have discovered in my life and see it in many others, most people don’t lack a desire for their goal, sadly, they just have a stronger competing desire. Sure, they want to lose weight. But they have a stronger desire to eat sweets and enjoy eating out constantly. Sure they want to get out of debt. But they have a stronger desire to buy new clothes or drive the new model. Any area of life where you have a stronger competing desire, it will prevent you from achieving the goal that is best for your life and stop you from reaching your full potential.

Keys To Developing Desire

            I want to share with you four keys to achieving healthy desires and avoiding unhealthy competing desires. James 1:8 says that a “Double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” He goes on to say that that type of person will never receive from God the things they ask for…what they desire. These keys have changed my life and I know they will yours as well.

1. Change What You Give Attention To

            Stop looking at what you’re giving up in the process of reaching your dream and focus on where you’re going. For example, stop focusing on the food you shouldn’t be eating and start focusing on how great you will look and feel at your ideal weight. My dad says, “Your life tends to go in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.” When I minister in England, I think about scones and clotted cream on the flight and crave them by the time I arrive. I will even make my daughter, Kassidi, walk miles with me to find a cafe serving them! The more you focus on something, the deeper you will desire it. The deeper you desire it, the more you will do what it takes to achieve that goal.

2. Change What You See Inside

            I say it all the time, you have to see something before you can have something. You have to see your dreams in your imagination and spirit until they become more real than what you see physically. A vision for your life starts with praying and listening. Ask God what He has for you. What do you believe God is telling you to get serious about pursuing? Take what He tells you and write it down. Habakkuk 2:2 says, “I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance” (CEV). Writing the vision down causes your desires to magnify and grow from simple wishes to intense, burning desires. You will gain clarity for what you want and what God is speaking to your spirit about fulfilling. You deposit that image on the inside of you and let your faith go to work to produce it.

3. Change Your Routine

            If you change your habits, you can change your life! It’s been said that 90% of behavior is automatic. From the time you get up until you go to bed, there are 100’s of things you do the exact same way every day. The habits you currently have are producing the results you experience in your life. Successful people have developed successful habits. They have routines that lead them to their dreams. Your life will never change until your routine changes. I even have a magazine that’s emailed or mailed directly into homes called The Routine because I am convinced that the secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. When my routine changed, my life changed.

4. Change The Way You Speak

            We are all constantly having a mental conversation. We talk to ourselves all day long and, studies show, unfortunately, about 80% of it is negative. This negativity can absolutely stop you from achieving your dreams. Proverbs 18:21 tell us that “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” If you are ever going to reach your desired goal, you are going to have to speak positive words of faith. What you repeatedly hear, you eventually believe. And you believe yourself more than anyone. Your words are powerful. Begin speaking your dreams and desires out loud. Since 2007, I have been speaking positive words over myself consistently. At one time, they were just faith-filled declarations…now, I’m watching them unfold in my life.

I want to encourage you to enlarge your dream. Don’t settle for small desires. Your dreams should seem impossible! And should require faith to achieve! Hebrews 11:6 tells us it’s impossible to please God without faith. Josie Bisset says, “Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them.”

Let me ask you a few questions. Do you feel like you’ve lost your dreams? Do you feel like you’ve wasted too many years? Do you feel like you’ve missed some opportunities and it’s too late to do what you were born for? Richard Bach said, “Here’s the test to determine whether your mission on Earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.” I believe God is speaking to you about your future. It’s time to get your dreams back, get your confidence back, get your habits right and get moving and focused on the plan God has for you.