If you have read or have been involved in personal development, whether it is goal-setting, time management, motivation, weight loss, or the many other categories and have not taken hold of what you desired, chances are that you're lacking an inner drive towards that elusive goal.

You have brought books, CDs, tapes, searched the internet, and maybe even attended seminars, but yet you find that you fall short of your desire or you don't even come one step closer to what you set out to achieve. You may ask yourself "Why do I keep failing? Am I supposed to just remain who I am today?"

Do not lose hope and sight of your goal. If you have obtained personal development resources before, you have a desire to improve. You have a desire to be intimate in your relationships. You have a desire to look your best. You have a desire to free yourself from debt.

Here is a fantastic analogy to help you see the problem. By not defining the problem correctly you can not provide a correct solution, leaving you to wonder your whole life about "what could have been". Think of the books you read, the cds you listen to, the seminars you attend, as a spark. This spark has an extremely powerful potential. It has the potential to ignite and create fire. Can you see the relation between the spark and the resources you read and listen to? These personal development guides create an internal spark in you. They pump you up guiding you towards your goal's correct path.

However, it doesn't take long until you find yourself not moving forward on the path toward your goal, or that you have totally moved off the path. You may have even lost ground by feeling so beaten up after failing you enter into a state of depression and fear. What you need is to turn the spark gained from the personal development resources into a roaring fire. A fire so dominant and independent that it will continue to burn and not require outside help in keeping it that way. To see what can fuel that spark into a fire, ask yourself, "this internal desire I have to improve, where is it coming from?" Are you sick of arguing with your partner or friends and you want to have more intimate relationships? Is it that you're tired of worrying about being able to put food on the table, provide clothing, and shelter? Are you embarrassed by how those additional pounds make you look?

Now that it is apparent as to why you want to improve, make it a strong fear. Using the financial example: you are struggling to create and provide the necessities. Create the fear that one day you will be unable to provide, or that for once in your life you want to give without worrying about the financial burden. This is your fear. This is your fuel for the spark to ignite it into a roaring fire and keeping it burning strongly.

So the next time you feel you do not have what it takes to achieve that elusive goal, recall the fear of what could be. Pull out that fear and use it to propel yourself forward. By asking yourself "what could be", you will avoid yourself saying later "what could have been".