CHAPTER TEN
Power of Determination
Determination is a force that can wear out any resistance. What keeps anything afloat on troubled water is the determination to survive. Without determination the adventure to rise to the top will end in defeat. Determination is a force that commands result. It has presence; nothing meaningful can be achieved without it. Great people are ordinary people with extraordinary determination; they play on determination to create the result they get. Determination is a very vital factor to attaining the next dimension of life. There is a brand of force that is needed to make the delivery of awesome result a reality. Falling is easier than standing, just like going down takes lesser effort than going up. The task of being positive is far much more demanding than being negative. What it takes to build positive result is demanding. The faint hearted cannot hold their ground in the court. Determination is an underlining factor to success.
10:1 Determination Drive
In every trade in life, there are usually the ‘best’ and the ‘rest.’ Pools of people are in your line of trade. To enjoy life, you must separate yourself from the ‘rest’ and aspire to get to the top. Lawyers are great but not all are successful. Doctors are quite significant but not all hit it. Sportsmen are living large but some are frustrated. Musicians fly in amazing glamour but some are in disgusts. Movie actors glitter while some just patch through. It’s obvious not everyone in colourful profession succeed.
One major factor why not everyone rise to the top is the fact that much is required to get there and only those determined enough endure the rough pathway to success. Many that have become liabilities got to be because they lack determination to get what they want. The economists say human wants are insatiable, but in practical terms, the core things you want are available if you will be determined enough to get on the play. You can make fascinating results happen and not be a burden to anyone. One of the most foolish things anyone will do is to be a liability.
Everyone that is amazingly great would have been a liability if they chose to. Anyone could be a liability just like everyone can be successful. Either of the two classes don’t plaster a tag on anyone but attitude magnetically gravitates towards a life outcome. It is up to you to be determined not to be a liability. That tag stench and it’s a complete degradation of human dignity.
10:2 The Result of Determination
The only feat you can achieve in life is that which you sincerely agree to and believe is possible. People make attempts and create possibilities but what brings home success is true determination. Hilary Clinton had formidable machinery solidly on ground for her presidency bid in her first outing but Obama was determined to be the President. Hilary tried persuading him for a joint ticket where she goes for the office of the President and Obama be her running mate. Barrack was too determined to be so talked down. He got past her and took a walk past the late John McCain. He became the President, he was determined for it. Hey, let this drive deep into you, nothing stops a man that is determined to win.
The world has too many religious minded people that rape success principles, hiding behind the religious consciousness of God’s explosive power. Many of these guys would be shocked to understand God respects the lining principles that makes success a possibility on the earth space.
Don’t give up even at the most difficult moments. When you quit, the result will tell against you. Success may be near when it seems so far. Build and develop your ‘Stay Power.’ One of life’s greatest virtues is the ability to hold on. On the journey to achieving greatness, there will be several opportunities to give up. Thomas Edison didn’t have to go the full stretch of ten thousand times repeating the experiment that led to his great invention. Christopher Columbus’ adventure of traveling a scary distance on the high sea in search of an unknown land that is now known as The United States of America could have been aborted without any pride lost or bruised. The trip to success is a long distance race full of high mountains to climb and unfriendly battles to conquer. If you are not determined to win, you will be frozen in the middle of the race.
Defy the pain that comes with the process of wanting to rise. Never ever allow discouragement to hold you down. I once watched Serena Williams in one of her many conquests limping but playing. Eventually she won the game. A class act of determination. She was the paragon of champions before her retirement from the tennis court. People succeed when they don’t know how to quit. Richard Nixon said, “A man is not finished when he is defected. He is finished when he quits.” As you get on in life, doors and great doors will open up to you but with strong opposition. Don’t back out; never back out on a possibility on the account that it’s demanding.
10:3 The Risk Factor
Life is an adventure. There is a risk dimension to life. In the bid to rise to the top, there would be risks to encounter and defeats to confront. There is no one that travelled on the path of greatness that didn’t fight through risk. David stood against Goliath to emerge the giant king he became. Lionel Messi takes the risk of dribbling past arrays of opposing players to bang the numbers on his name. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg took risks on their academics to pursue their business concepts. The legendary Esther; the Amazon Bible character took risk on her life to access the King’s presence uninvited, she dared the death consequence. The risk element is always a barrier to cross to drive into success. If you don’t have the heart to take risks, you won’t have a crown wearing head. Success is not on the surface of life, you will have to push through scary moments and stretch yourself to reach heights outside your comfort zone.
Whatever move you make to hit landmark success that is risk-free does not hold great potential. The attempt for great life is entangled with much risk; it is the only worthy chance you’ve got. Take it! You can’t afford to shy away from taking risks if you are serious about doing something worth the while with your life. Size up the attempt adventure; evaluate it and take it. Great risks always trail great heights. As you push for significance, take note of the fact that no one ever suggested the way to the top would be cheap. You will have to fight to get the result you want and be dogged to keep what is yours. There is never going to be a free walk to success.
Life will not give you free pass to the top; you have to press your way through. If you are not willing to press on, you will end up being oppressed. In the war between the United States and Great Britain, the British General greeted America’s George Washington with the following words. “Sir, I salute you, not only as great leader of men but as an indomitable Christian gentleman who wouldn’t give up.” In the outcome of the battle of life, it’s either you are commended or condemned. The reward for commendation is the proof of success while on the other hand, the condemnation of defeat is the spit of mockery life throws at failures who quit fighting and just watch life roll over them.
Challenge is a part of life. Confront the challenges that rises against you; don’t back off. The route to the top is always ‘breath-taking’ only the determined gets on it and grabs the opportunities hidden within the challenges. Make your life count; be determined to be all you can. Your life is your responsibility. It’s on you to determine what life will record about you. How far you get in life and the impact you make on humanity defines the quality of your life.
10:4 Doing The Impossible
A punctured determination is a sharp prediction of defeat. When challenges linger, quitting becomes easy with too many people. The world is full of possibilities but filled with frustrated defeated fellows. When we don’t get the result we want in good time, quitting should not be on the table, pressing harder is the way to go. We quit because we do not know we are not designed to quit. We are built in survival mode. We can survive any pressure if we see the need to push through. At some point in the battle of survival, people allow the pain of the hit on them to penetrate too deep so much that they let go the reason they want to win. When people quit sometimes, they know victory is possible but they get weighed down with how long it may take to hold on under the suffocating pressure. Many in this category fall under some sort of depression and just quit fighting. You can never get your attitude right if you allowed depression to sneak into your system. Depression is the bait to oppression. A depressed lion would be lost to self and won’t have the command that makes the lion king of the jungle. I’ve seen old, weak lions exposed and when the hyenas come visiting, the depressed lions end up decapitated. The story of depressed lions is a tragedy the jungle weeps over. You don’t want to be that depressed lion.
If you’ve lost your fight within, you won’t have the energy to take on life. There is so much ahead to fight for; so much to make happen; so much possibility to claim. You can’t stay down to be counted. Do not let the fight be over on you. You still can raise your head; lift your hand and rise to your feet. Stay in the race, don’t quit, don’t do it. You may have failed on your many attempts to win, still don’t quit on yourself. Failing simply means you are yet to succeed. People give up too soon when the experience of attempting to succeed suffers many setbacks. That’s a lifetime error. No fighter that abandons a fight in the middle of a bout ever gets declared the winner. Don’t throw your chances away quitting too soon. Keep yourself in the fight, raise your determination, impossibility is nothing.
Ruth Beitia was in the Athens 2004 Olympics. She competed in the women high jump event and ended up having a horrible outing. She was 16th in the roll-out. That was a very shameful representation for her nation and exposure to global humiliation. That should have been the end of her Olympics dream but she was stubborn in determination. She featured in the next Olympics in Beijing 2008. She had a very improved outing, slipping off the medal podium at the 4th position. That was a huge improvement on her first outing. She still was not going to quit. She made it to the next Olympics in London, 2012. She came 4th again, a narrow miss off the medal stand. Maybe that was the best she could have ever gotten. She was getting older and other negatives working against her but she held to her dream of Olympics gold medal. The fight for the dream was becoming an illusion. She should accept the situation and quit. Ruth Beitia wanted more and she raised her guts to go for it. She landed at the Rio 2016 Olympics and got her much desired gold medal! What an amazing fighter. Her story is amazing and so powerful. She conquered her competitors; she conquered the world; she conquered herself. She earned a huge win!
Do not permit the cloud of fear overwhelm you. Stay motivated to mobilize yourself to give your best in negotiating a break. The result you get in life is traceable to the motivating force driving you. If your inspiration charge is low, your surge will not have the power to drive result. The force behind your push gives life to the result you attract. The power in the drive of the ocean wave makes it either friendly or violent. The propelling force behind anything determines the shooting power of that thing. Build force into your determination. Beat the threat of fear; loosen yourself to throw your hardest punch in forcing result. It is always on you to create the result you desire.
I like Jennifer Lopez, she dances well and a good quality singer but I prefer the actor version of her. She has seen rough times through life. Her career has dangled through several ups and downs. Her relationship life has suffered several injuries. She has been written off a number of times but she has a way of re-inventing herself in getting back to limelight. She’s a fighter, and a determined one. It takes much to be a Jennifer Lopez. You will have to be fearless and break limits. We all have the potential to mirror her power of resilience but not many have deepened their capacity to deliver on her kind of result. There is a gulf between potential and capacity. It’s easy for anyone with huge potential to fail because potential is not self-delivery if not deepened. But capacity is a deepened potential that has been effectively worked on. If you spread your wings on the current of deepened capacity, the world stage will be at your feet. You can’t get to that level flawed in fear. In the voice of Jennifer Lopez, “Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless.” You can’t get into the realm of the big league on the subscription to fear. If indeed you are going to be a big player, you must be fearless.
Determination is the price paid for greatness. You will not reach the depth of your potential if you are not a determined fighter. David could have decided to walk away from the giant challenge of Goliath but he would also have thrown away his chance to the throne. If you want the big fish, you will have to take the deep dive.