You have brought books, CDs, those old cassette tapes, searched the internet, and maybe even attended seminars, but yet you find yourself falling short of your desire or you don't even come one step closer to what you tried to achieve. You lose any inspirational thoughts you once had and sink back to where you came from. You may even 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 self improvement resources before, you have a desire to improve. You have a desire to free yourself from debt. You have a desire to look your best. You have a desire to be intimate in your relationships.

Here is a fantastic analogy and inspirational thought 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 self improvement guides create an internal spark of motivation in you. They temporarily inspire you and pump you up, gearing you towards your goal and setting you on the correct path.

However, it isn't too long until you find yourself not moving forward on the path toward your goal, or that you have totally diverted away from 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 self improvement resources into a roaring fire. A fire so powerful and independent that it will continue to burn without 'outside help' in keeping it that way. To learn what can fuel that spark into a fire, ask yourself, "this internal desire I have to improve, where is it coming from?" Is it that you're tired of worrying about being able to put food on the table, provide clothing, and shelter? Are you sick of arguing with your partner or friends and you want to have more intimate relationships? Are you ashamed of how those extra pounds make you look?

Now that it is apparent as to why you want to improve, make it a strong fear. Using a relationship example; let's say you are struggling to have a loving, conflict-free, and open relationship. Create or bring out the fear that one day you'll lose contact with the person. Make the fear a real possibility. If you continue to have average or poor communication with this person, it is a reality that you could break-up or lose contact altogether. 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 accomplish that elusive goal, remember the inspirational thought of fearing what could be. Pull out that fear and use it to drive yourself. By asking yourself "what could be", you will prevent yourself saying later "what could have been".

Sign-up now to your free 7 part self development course "Become a Superior Earthling". If you're after more inspiration, check out our inspirational articles, thoughts, and stories section. Effective Communication Skills Copyright Joshua Uebergang.