How bad do you want it? That question became a powerful student motivation lesson in our family after Kaitlin shared a short video about success, focus and wanting something badly enough to keep going.
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We were originally going to write about Kit and Chayse’s enterprise goals, but this video made us pause. It challenged us to think about what real commitment looks like — not just for business, but for study, sport, family, financial freedom and life.
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How Bad Do You Want It? A Student Motivation Lesson
Our daughter Kaitlin saw the How Bad Do You Want It? video on YouTube and sent us the link. We thought it was awesome. It does not go for very long, but the message is strong enough to stay with you.
The video tells the story of a young man who wanted to be successful. He went to a guru and said he wanted to be on the same level. The guru took him into the water and eventually held his head under until the young man desperately wanted air.
“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”
That is a confronting image, but it makes the point. Many of us say we want success, but we also want comfort, convenience, distraction and easy results at the same time.
After watching the video, it made us ask ourselves honestly: do we really want it, or do we only kind of want it?
How Bad Do You Want It When Life Gets Busy?
Want what, you may ask?
Well, anything really.
How much do we want our fitness levels to be at their best? How much do we want to be financially free? How much do we want a happy and loving family life? How much do we want time with friends, unique experiences and a life that feels meaningful?
For us, it is a little bit of everything.
But one of the things we realised while completing Paul Counsel’s Money Mastery course was this: when we split our attention between everything, we often get a medium result from everything.
There is nothing wrong with that. It can make life comfortable, and that is fine for many people.
But for us, we were ready to challenge ourselves. We were ready to step up and make a difference in those areas in a big way, not an average way.
Student Motivation Starts With Focus
This is where the video becomes such a useful student motivation lesson.
Students often say they want strong results. They want good marks, sporting success, creative achievement, friendships, confidence or future opportunities. But the real question is whether their daily actions match what they say they want.
That is not a criticism. It is a life lesson.
Focus is difficult. Life is noisy. Friends, phones, family, sport, school, work, hobbies and distractions all pull at our attention. Even adults struggle with this.
But if a teenager wants a result badly enough, they need to learn how to protect their focus. That might mean:
- doing the study before the distraction,
- finishing the task before moving on,
- training when they do not feel like training,
- asking for help instead of giving up,
- and remembering why the goal matters.
This is not only about school. The same lesson applies to young entrepreneurs, young athletes, musicians, writers and children with business ideas.
How Bad Do You Want It as a Family?
As parents, we also had to ask ourselves the same question.
So, while we may not exist on three hours of sleep a night — although that has been debatable at times with an eighteen-month-old in the house — we do put in long hours.
We stay up late, long after the kids have gone to bed, working on our internet business, studies, trading and health and wellbeing business. We are not doing this because we want to be busy for the sake of being busy. We are doing it because we are trying to build a future with more freedom, more choice and more meaningful experiences for our family.
We know we are already successful in some parts of our lives. We have a wonderful family and supportive friends, and we know that came through dedication and focus.
Now we are working to transfer that same focus into other areas of life.
Financial Freedom and Determined Focus
Financial freedom has always been one of the bigger goals behind Enterprise for Kids. Not because money is the only measure of success, but because freedom gives families options.
When we are financially free, we can create more time with our kids. We can hire help for some of the mundane things in life. We can create awesome experiences beyond what we have already had. We can take time to enrich our relationships without constantly worrying about the next bill.
That takes determined focus.
It may take us longer to achieve our goals than it will for Giavanni Ruffin, the athlete in the video. He has major, unstoppable focus and he will achieve. It is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when.
But even if we used just a tenth of that energy and commitment, it would still be better than having no focus at all.
How to Stay Focused on Your Goals
One of the strongest lessons from this video is that attention matters.
Where your attention is held is what tends to show up in your life. You need to attend to your intention. A clear intention, backed by determined focus, can set you on the right path to success.
For children and teenagers, this can be made very practical.
1. Name the goal clearly
A vague goal is easy to ignore. A clear goal gives the mind something to aim at.
2. Ask why it matters
Children need to know why the goal matters to them, not just why it matters to the adults around them.
3. Remove one distraction
Focus does not always require a complete life overhaul. Sometimes it starts by removing one distraction for one hour.
4. Take one action today
The best motivation for students often comes after action, not before it. Start small, then build momentum.
5. Review the result
After the action, ask: what worked, what did not work, and what is the next step?
Goal Setting for Teenagers and Enterprising Kids
This lesson on focus can be applied by anyone. It applies to teenagers studying at high school, kids with big sporting ambitions, parents developing a business, and young people building an enterprise.
Kaitlin was challenged with maintaining focus in her studies. We were glad she discovered this video, thought about its excellent message, and decided to share it with us.
That is exactly what we want for our children. We want them to notice ideas that challenge them. We want them to question themselves. We want them to think about what they want and whether their habits are helping them get there.
For enterprising kids, this is especially important. Business ideas are exciting at the start, but results usually come after the boring, repetitive, uncomfortable parts: following up, finishing the job, practising the skill, serving the customer, improving the offer and trying again after disappointment.
How Bad Do You Want It? Part 2
If you enjoyed the first video clip and thought that was all there was, you may also like the second part.
Key Takeaway: How Bad Do You Want It?
Key takeaway: How bad do you want it? Success is not only about wanting a result. It is about focus, commitment and taking repeated action when the goal matters enough.
Where to Next?
- Read Youth Enterprise: Kaitlin and Jai
- Read What “The Secret” Left Out
- Read about our Money Mastery mentoring journey
- Visit Raise Entrepreneurial Kids
- Explore more Family Enterprise Stories
How badly do you want the goal you say matters to you? And what is one action you can take today to move closer to it?