The story is about a young man, who wanted to make a lot of money and he decided to go to this guru. He told the guru that, “I want to be on the same level you’re on.” So the Guru said, “If you want to be on the same level I’m on, I’ll meet you tomorrow at the beach at four a.m.” “The beach?” the young man asked, puzzled. “I said I want to make money; I don’t want to swim.”
The guru said, “If you want to make money, I’ll meet you tomorrow at four a.m.”
The young man got there at four a.m. ready to rock and roll, he’s got on a suit (he should have worn shorts), the old man grabs his hand and says, “How bad do you want to be successful?” The young man says, “Real bad.” The guru says, “Walk on out into the water.” So the young man walks out into the water (watch this), when he walks out into the water it goes waist deep. The young man is thinking, “… this guy is crazy… I want to make money and you got me out here swimming, I didn’t ask to be a life guard, I want to make money. And you got me in…” The guru interrupted the young man’s thoughts and said, “Come out a little further.” The young man walked out a little further, the water was right around his shoulder area. The young man is thinking again, “… this man is crazy, he’s making money, but he’s crazy.” The guru said, “Come on out a little further.” The young man came out a little further, the water was right at his mouth. My guy is like, “I’m about to go back… this guy is out his mind!”
So the old man said, “I thought you said you want to be successful?”
The young man said, “I do.” The guru commanded, “Walk out a little further.” The young man came and the guru reached down and dropped his head in, holding him down, the young man starts beating and slapping the water. He had him held down and just before the young man was about to pass out, the guru raised him up. He said, “I got a question for you. When you were under water, what did you want to do?” The young man said, “I wanted to breathe.”
The guru told the guy:
“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”
by Seth Kessler