Are you hungry?

Last week, I met with a couple of interesting individuals who live on Guam. Both were born into riches, and they parlayed their assets to greater wealth. One individual was part of a family that owns several major businesses and had a number of prime real estate holdings. The father had arrived on Guam from the Philippines with very little, but because of his vision and a lot of hard work he was able to buy beachfront property at a low price before the tourism boom.

I met the other individual through an acquaintance. We waited at Hafa Java on Guam, and after a few minutes he pulled up in his black Corvette convertible. It was one of 17 exotic and classic cars he had in his collection. He had some more cars being shipped from the mainland, and he was on his fourth Ferrari.

Even though he lived an eccentric lifestyle, he was down to earth and easy to talk to. Through his numerous business dealings he was able to create a life that allowed him to do nothing if he wanted. After talking to him for about an hour, he shared an interesting story that explained some of his philosophy.

One of his close friends is Magic Johnson, and they would go watch professional basketball games together. After the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA title, he noticed that one of the players thanked his fans and then quickly went back to working hard instead of resting on his laurels. After the second title, he noticed the same thing and made a comment to Magic Johnson that this young player by the name of Michael Jordan was going to make his mark in the sport.

As a businessperson, he knew the importance of being hungry to accomplish a goal. He recognized that Jordan exhibited the same hunger and drive to succeed that he had in doing business, and he could predict that his intensity of will would take him to greater accomplishment.

In fact, this businessman stated that he was preparing to do business in China and that he was going to leave behind all of his wealth, his Ferraris, and just get an apartment and ride the public transportation system. His rationale was that he was going to mentally forget all of his riches and accomplishments so that he could emotionally create a great hunger to succeed in accomplishing the work that was before him.

That same hunger can be found in every person who knows what they want and where they are going. It drives them to an unbelievable level of persistence and action until they accomplish their goals. The young man from the Philippines who arrived penniless on the island Guam believed his hunger and level of persistence would open the doors of opportunity for him. He has now created for his family a level of passive income that would allow them to not have to work for the rest of their lives. He also instilled in his children a strong work ethic that causes them to remain hungry to do more—not just in a material way, but in also finding ways to improve the quality of life in their community.

People who have lost that hunger become jaded to the opportunities that Saipan has to offer. Instead of living to work, too many individuals only work to live. Instead of waking up each day with a hunger to succeed, they only succeed in feeding their physical hunger.

Do you believe that life has more to offer you, if you are hungry enough to grab it? The only real difference, sometimes, between the haves and the have-nots is their level of commitment and their hunger to accomplish a worthwhile goal. A person’s ability to act constantly and consistently toward a predefined objective separates those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.

Being hungry is a metaphor for being willing to persist until you succeed—to not let failures and setbacks keep you down as you stay focused on a goal. Hunger allows people to take the invisible and make it visible by bringing ideas to life. It drives individuals to go from one accomplishment to another one until they reach the pinnacle of success in whatever they value.

Take a self-evaluation and ask yourself if there is a buried dream that you once believed you could achieve? Are you living the way you want to live? Or have you become complacent and accepted government or family assistance as a way of life? Complacency can make one emotionally fat and unfit for the tasks required to see a goal completed. Hunger can drive you to greater heights of accomplishment and success. Are you hungry?

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)