ted1.jpgWhat makes for success? What is the “secret” of extra-ordinary success? Success beyond the everyday, super-star success? Mind-blowing, stupendous, stellar success?

Sorry, no one answer. But a KEY ingredient is you have to WANT it, REALLY want it. You have to be DRIVEN.

Ted Turner was described in “Call Me Ted” as “Driven way beyond anyone else I’d ever met.” What does it mean to be driven? Deeply driven?

For one thing, it means that you focus every minute of every day on your goal. In Turner’s own words, he describes his obsession with using every moment, with being always, always productive: “I go to great lengths to be efficient with my time and try to make the most of every minute of every day. I don’t even waste time getting to and from work. There were long stretches when I spent most of my weeknights sleeping in my office and later, when I could afford to, I built an apartment on the top floor of CNN. My desire to use time wisely has even extended to what I wear on my feet. For most of my adult life, I’ve never worn lace-up shoes. Most of my shoes are slip-ons so that instead of spending time stooping over tying my shoes, I do something else that’s productive.”

Okay, when you wear slip-ons instead of lace-ups to save time, THAT is DRIVEN!

When you want your goals that badly, when you are that focused, that on-purpose, you’ll be surprised what can happen. I’m not telling you to ditch all your lace-ups. But I am telling you that if you want to make something extra-ordinary happen in your life, you would be well advised to pay attention to how you spend your time and energy. Do your schedule, your day, your activities reflect your life priorities? Are you looking where you want to go? Gathering up spare moments and aggregating them into hours, using them productively to move you forward, onward, closer to your North Star?