Wanting What You Want explores the powerful difference between needing and wanting. In this book, Dan Sullivan explains how the most successful, creative, and innovative people in the world expand their freedom and contribute value through the skill of wanting.

There are four key distinctions between “needers” and “wanters.” Needers live in a world of scarcity, security, and reactivity, where all their measurements for success are external. Wanters, on the other hand, live in a world of abundance, freedom, and creativity, where their successes are all internally motivated. Through simple strategies that can be implemented immediately, anyone can move from the world of needing to the world of wanting, improving their quality of life and putting no limits on how far they can go.

What distinguishes the top 1 percent of the world’s entrepreneurs from the other 99 percent?

The big thing I’ve noticed from coaching entrepreneurs for over 40 years is a real dividing line between extremely successful entrepreneurs and those who peak after reaching a certain level of success. The dividing line seems to consist of two words: needing and wanting.

There are the vast majority of entrepreneurs who are as successful as they need to be, and then there’s an elite group of entrepreneurs who grow and grow and grow with no apparent ceiling. The difference I’ve noticed from studying these two groups extensively is that the second group of entrepreneurs is as successful as they want to be.

When you’re as successful as you need to be, there’s a stopping point you reach when you’ve satisfied your needs. It’s unconscious, of course, so the entrepreneur won’t even notice it happening. But when you’re as successful as you want to be, you just keep growing and expanding. This is because the moment you reach one level of wanting, there is another just beyond that. I began to see this distinction make a huge difference between people who get to a certain level and stop and the other entrepreneurs who keep growing all their lives. It all comes down to the difference between needing and wanting.

What distinguishes the top 1 percent of the world’s entrepreneurs from the other 99 percent?

The big thing I’ve noticed from coaching entrepreneurs for over 40 years is a real dividing line between extremely successful entrepreneurs and those who peak after reaching a certain level of success. The dividing line seems to consist of two words: needing and wanting.

There are the vast majority of entrepreneurs who are as successful as they need to be, and then there’s an elite group of entrepreneurs who grow and grow and grow with no apparent ceiling. The difference I’ve noticed from studying these two groups extensively is that the second group of entrepreneurs is as successful as they want to be.

When you’re as successful as you need to be, there’s a stopping point you reach when you’ve satisfied your needs. It’s unconscious, of course, so the entrepreneur won’t even notice it happening. But when you’re as successful as you want to be, you just keep growing and expanding. This is because the moment you reach one level of wanting, there is another just beyond that. I began to see this distinction make a huge difference between people who get to a certain level and stop and the other entrepreneurs who keep growing all their lives. It all comes down to the difference between needing and wanting.