Why You Need to be Obsessed

You need to be obsessed over something. Now I didn't say obsessive compulsive, that's another story altogether. I didn't say, you need to obsess over someone, you need to be obsessed over something. And it's a very healthy thing and you need to do it if you're going to succeed.

 

You need to be obsessed and I'm going to tell you why obsession is not a bad thing. Now we tend to have this in our minds a lot when we hear the word obsession. And we hear it as obsessive-compulsive behavior. That's a whole different ballgame, that's a whole different thing. That is not the thing I'm talking about. I'm not talking about an obsession that is compulsive. You need to be obsessive, amazingly obsessive but what are you obsessed about? Are you obsessed about anything? Why do you need to be obsessive? Why do you need to have an obsession over something? Well, let's take a look at this.

 

The Edison Effect. Thomas Edison, as we know, is the person who invented the incandescent light bulb, I guess, just the light bulb… light coming from electricity. He was able to harness it, and I've heard several stories. I did a little bit of research that he did this first jury did this first, and he tried over. I've already tried over 1000 times, I heard he tried over 10,000 times or 3000 times. What I found is that he did it a lot, he found a ton of ways that didn't work.

Obsession is not trying something 2 or 3 times. Not for me. You're not obsessed with that. You had an interest in it and you tried it and you failed at it, whatever that one thing might be, you just kind of moved on to something else you weren't obsessed with.

Thomas Edison, he was obsessed. He found a way that didn't work, and he said. “Well, it didn't work. I guess we'll throw the whole thing in.” No. He said I'll find out this and he found so many ways not to succeed. Now I don't know whether it was 1000 or 10,000 or 3000 I did find documentation several different sources. They said that him and his team tried over 3000 different ways to create the actual light bulb not necessarily the filament. And so, we've heard the stories. My thought is, if it's 100. Wow, he was obsessed ,amazingly obsessed, crazy obsessed. He failed over 100 times, but we know that it's more than that.

I've heard 1000. I've heard 10,000. Either way, the guy wasn't going to quit until he succeeded in figuring out the thing that would make this work. Now, there is an early report in the whole, making the light bulb thing that somebody else discovered it before him, that there was a way to make that filament out of titanium. But what's the use of that. It was so expensive and so rare. It would make it completely unpractical for the rest of the world. So that idea just got thrown out. But it did plant an idea in somebody's mind. See, it can be done. And if it can be done with titanium maybe it can be done with something else, and Edison said it to find out exactly what that was amazing. He just kept at it and kept at it and kept at it, until he finally figured it out. That is a healthy, healthy obsession.

Somebody said this and this is an anonymous quote. “Obsessed is a word the lazy used to describe the dedicated.” Wow. Think about that. The person who isn't obsessed over the lazy person who can't stick with anything for more than five minutes or five days or maybe even five months and just tries it several times and then quit and moves on to something else.

Now maybe it's a good thing that some people are like that and they move on to something else but only the truly lazy person looks at the truly obsessed person and calls him crazy. Oh man, they're just obsessed with that they just can't seem to let it go.

I know somebody, you know a few people, that have a healthy obsession with coffee. Now I went through a phase of being fairly obsessed with coffee I volunteered in a, in a nonprofit coffee shop I gave my time three hours a day several days a week. I learned how to do, you know, lattes and this and that and I couldn't quite get into the latte art, but I tried really heard. I went to visit a coffee farm in Peru, I went to visit a coffee farm in Guatemala. You’re thinking of how he's bordering on obsessive and I guess I was bordered on obsessive for a while but it kind of waned, and now I'm just obsessed over my morning cup of coffee. It's more of a habit really, not really an obsession. I can go without it. At least I keep telling myself that that I can go without it.

But obsession is a word the lazy used to describe the dedicated. So, what are you really truly obsessed about? Grant Cardone, who wrote the book “The 10 x rule.” He's quoted, “Be obsessed, or be average.” Some people are very, very comfortable being average. Some people are very, very comfortable blending in. Some people are very, very comfortable not being noticed. But if you want to stand out, if you want to make a difference, you need to be obsessed over something.

Now, this past week has been absolutely crazy. It's been exactly one week since the actual election day here in the United States. And people are obsessed over who wins and who doesn't win and what's going to happen next, and I've learned something about obsession with regard to politics. I did my part, I went, and I voted as maybe you did as well and if you're American I hope you did exactly that. I didn't tell you who to vote for I'm never going to do that. You vote for whoever you vote for. It's already over so it doesn't matter, but that's kind of my point. Obsession has to be something you control.

There's no reason for me to be obsessed with the eventual outcome or what they finally decide about the presidency. I can't do anything else about it now so why should I be obsessed over it. I just need to move forward. So, I'm obsessed with moving forward with my life, not crying about the past or crying how they did this or whining about how they did that, or who won or who lost for that matter. I have no control over it at this particular point, beyond my vote, so be very, very careful about what you obsess over now.

Be obsessed or be average. I'm choosing not to be average. If I want to be the average guy I would not be doing Facebook Lives. I wouldn't be on Facebook. I wouldn't be doing this or that or anything else. I want to be a little more obsessed with making a difference in the world, I really do.

Here's a quote by Frank Zane and I love this. “The more you're obsessed by something, the better chance you have of achieving it.” You think Michael Phelps who's won a bazillion gold medals in the Olympics. Do you think he was obsessed with swimming? Well, not just swimming but swimming to be his very best, obsessed with getting another gold medal, obsessed with it morning, noon night, even his sleep patterns. Everything was focused on that one thing he was obsessed with. Absolutely and completely obsessed, and he achieved a lot.

Thomas Edison, was he obsessed? If he wasn't obsessed, he would have quit after 10 or 20 failures, but he went on to do hundreds or thousands or however many he did to finally figure it out. He was obsessed, completely obsessed.

So, the more you are obsessed by something the better chance you have of succeeding. You get to choose what to obsess over.

Take away the “who,” because that's just creepy being obsessed over your neighbor's wife. That's creepy. That's wrong. Stop being obsessed over some celebrity or some movie star or some online influencer of some kind, just being obsessed over it, what are they doing their every move, what they’re wearing today. What are they wearing tomorrow? What did they wear yesterday? Oh, my goodness, they look so good, then you're so obsessed and what's the sense? You were wasting a ton of energy.

Choose what you're going to obsess over and make it something that will be an achievement. Obsess over something for which you can achieve something great. Not something average.

Choose your obsession wisely as I've mentioned. If you choose to be completely obsessed over a video game, unless you can find a way to make a living at it I suggest you find a different obsession. If you choose to be obsessed over your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's husband, or your neighbor's property, or your neighbor's car. Stop it. Just stop it. Choose your obsession wisely. Yes, you can control what focus on and you can choose to let it go. Let those things go that aren't going to advance you or to advance other people.

I love this concept of a magnificent obsession. This was stated by W. Clement Stone, and I love this. “I have a magnificent obsession. All I want to do is change the world…” Really, W Clement Stone? Is that all you all you want to do is change the world? “I have a magnificent obsession. All I want to do is change the world make it a better place for this, and future generations.” There is an argument today in this country about what will make for a better future and for future generations. I get that there's going to be differences of opinions, but all you can worry about is what you're going to obsess over, what you're going to put in time and effort and failure into until you succeed. So, the question that I have for you is very simple. What is your magnificent obsession? What is it? What is the magnificent obsession that you have?

Once you conquer yourself. Everything else becomes possible.