Determination is the raw material for success; success is the product of determination.
You don’t have to plan to fail in life. Lack of determination to succeed is the master plan for becoming a successful failure in life. The undetermined person fails to do what he is supposed to do because of one excuse or the other, and his biography is full of excuses on why he failed in life. The determined individual did what he had to do amidst obvious setbacks, and his biography is more of how he endured, overcame obstacles, and succeeded. A proverb in Hausa says, “da ker na tsira ya fi da ker aka kama ni” (it was difficult, but I escaped is better than they suffered before they caught me).
No excuse justifies failure in life.
History holds it that almost all successful people have had reasonable excuses not to keep striving to succeed, but they succeeded because they refused to allow those excuses to stop them from reaching their target. It is true that if the heart is willing, it finds a thousand ways. If it is not willing, it finds thousands of excuses. Do what you are supposed to do no matter how, no matter what the circumstances may be, and by all positive means, do what is necessary to be done for success to be achieved. I am not trying to argue in favor of a do-or-die selfish struggle to succeed. No, far from it; I am talking about the inner resolution to stay focused on your goal irrespective of peer pressure and unfavorable circumstances.
Put your feet down where you mean to stand and let no man shift you.
He that always gives way to others will end up having no principles of his own. Take a definite stand, ignore transient and momentary pleasures that shift you away from your stand to achieve greatness. Ignore peer pressure and irrational behavior associated with myopic thinking; stand out from the crowd, be yourself, and go ahead to achieve that which you want to achieve in life, even if it means sailing against the wind of the status quo, friends, or environment. Be prepared to walk down the lonely road, for the road that leads to success is always lonely. Smile and say thank you when people support you, but the major support you need comes from within. Don’t make the mistake of expecting to feed your determination with public approval, because it might starve to death. Certainly, not all your experiences will support your ambition. Not all people will agree with you, and not all the resources you need will be at your disposal, but in spite of all these, you have to take a step and keep moving toward success and success alone.
Anais Nin said, “life shrinks and expands in proportion to one’s courage; regret looks back, worry looks around, and vision looks up; keep seeing where you are going.”
