How to Have Sheer Determination?

I’ve been thinking about this topic quite a bit these last few weeks. What does it take to have sheer determination? To have that “thing” inside you that says, you are going to accomplish whatever it is you have set your mind to no-matter-what! 

It’s not an easy thing to do. Plenty of people start out to accomplish something to only

give up when it gets too hard or inconvenient. And the struggle, don’t even get me started on the struggle. The struggle can suffocate you. It can make you question every move you make and wonder why in the hell you even started this venture because surely, this is never going to happen. And yet, every person who has reached any kind of great success will tell you that they went through all of these things. Struggle, indecision, anger, sadness, fear, mistakes, this list is endless.

There’s a great Tom Hank’s quote that says:

“If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

And oh so true! It takes a lot of work. Hard work and determination to reach your goals. Think about that quote for a second, if it were easy, everyone would do it. Only it’s not easy which is why most people don’t do it. 

It does take a lot of work; and energy, time, money, persistence, determination, time away from family and friends, ups and downs, failures, missed opportunities, feeling like maybe you are on the wrong road to no-where! And yet, if you want it bad enough, you stick it out. 

How many famous people were told when they started out they would never make it?
Thomas Edison – was told he was “too stupid to learn anything.”

Walt Disney – was fired by a newspaper editor because he said he “lacked imagination.”

Oprah Winfrey – was fired from her job as a television reporter because she was deemed “unfit for TV.”

Michael Jordan – was actually cut from his high school basketball team.

Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood – were all told when they started out that they had no talent and to forget show business.

And that is just a mere few of the names of successful people who struggled to get where they are today. There is no fast track for most. It is an arduous task at best. It takes everything you have inside and then some. If you let it, it will eat you up and spit you out. 

You must continually work at it, from every angle, with everything you have and with an unfettering belief that you have what it takes. You actually must feel you are the “success” before you even arrive at the doorstep of success. 

As Dr. Joyce Brothers says:

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success – start thinking of yourself as a success!”

You have to want success so badly that nothing can stop you. Not failures. Not money. Not people or situations. Because, for the most part, those are all a given as a problem. You can pretty much count on having to figure those issues out. Your job is to endure, to rise above, go around and collectively, without a moment of disbelief, keep reaching for that which is yours.

Wear it on your heart. Know it in your head. Feel it in your body. This is what you were born to do. Don’t let anyone or anything get in your way. Be FEROCIOUS! Pick yourself up when you are down. Cry when you must. Yell if you have to. And if you have to have a melt-down or two, go ahead. We’ll be waiting. Oh, and that’s another thing about reaching for success, so much better to do it with others to cheer you on and vice versa!

Will Smith, who has now made himself a legend through hard work and determination, is on record for saying the way he achieved stardom and success was through hard work. He has said, others may be more talented, but no one has more endurance than him. He will be the last man standing while others are sleeping. That’s what make one a success. The absolute knowledge from within that you “own it”, that success is yours, even before it shows itself to you. 

I leave you with a line from the great book from Napoleon Hill, “Think and Grow Rich”, which says, ”that nothing is impossible to the person who backs desire with enduring faith! 

NineFrogs – “Where Style meets Motivation and = Success”

Patti Bokowski
www.NineFrogs.com