“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
{Thomas Edison}
It’s not how great your ideas are that will make you successful, it’s how determined and focused you are about making them happen. Wouldn’t you agree?
Last Friday I flew to California, where I’m going to be working and relaxing for the next month. I was travelling on my own and got really bored, so started thinking about how I’ve ended up here…
18 months ago I decided to put a website together and publish inspiring stories about female entrepreneurs and now there are over 18,000 women involved, thousands of people who visit the site every month and I’ve published a digital magazine. How did it all happen? How did I get here?
Well… I think there are three little words that account for a lot:
Determination, persistence and focus.
Focus – the ability to stay on track.
Determination – the strength of will power to achieve your goal.
Persistence – the ability to maintain action even when you feel like giving in.
I think these three things are so important in achieving great things. I know for sure that I wouldn’t have got to where I am today if I hadn’t been so determined, focused and persistent on getting here.
The entrepreneurial journey is not always an easy one. There will be times when things go horribly wrong and you feel like giving up, but it’s at that moment that you have to suck it up and stay focused. You have to keep your mind focused on what it is you’re trying to achieve and why you’re trying to achieve it.
When things go wrong and you wonder what on earth you are doing just remember that successful people hang on when everyone else has let go. So, hang on, keep going and never give up on yourself. If something doesn’t work out as planned then keep going until you figure out a way for it to work.
Stay focused on your goals and what you need to do to achieve them, be determined to succeed no matter what obstacles are placed in your way and persist until you get there.
Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
The great thing is that we all have the ability to be focused, persistent and determined – they are simple disciplines you can apply to your life.
- You have to focus yourself on doing one thing and do it to the best of your abilities.
- You have to persist through failure, you have to persist through the set backs, you have to persist through the rejections, the criticism and the pressure.
- You have to be determined to push yourself that extra mile. Push yourself physically and mentally to get it done. You have to push through the doubts, the negative feelings, the fear. If you struggle to push yourself then find someone else who will push you – someone who believes in you and wants you to succeed.
