Two Success Factors - Persistence and Determination

One of my friends recently shared a quote with me from Calvin Coolidge.

Coolidge said,

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people 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 slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

I agree with Coolidge. I believe success in life comes down to these two success factors—persistence and determination. It's always the last 10 yards that are the hardest. It's always the extra effort that helps us discover our real potential. It's always the storm before the calm that makes the sunshine meaningful. So many people come so close only to lose the prize because of persistence. 

Two Success Factors

I think it's important to define these two success factors to really understand what it takes to be successful.

Persistence: 

• Refusing to give up or let go
• Insistently repetitive or continuous
• Existing or remaining in the same state for an indefinitely long time; enduring tenaciously
• Lasting without falling off
• Retained permanently, rather than disappearing in a early stage
• Occurring without interruption

Determination:

• Firmness of purpose; resolve
• Resoluteness
• Never giving up, never
• Unshakeable resolution to finish
• Controlling the outcome
• Fixed and firmly held

Now it's up to each of us. 

What goals are you currently working on that will require real persistence and real determination. Think of those goals and write down your plan to "press on" and finish what you've started. 

This is not for some of us. It's for all of us.

#nevergiveup

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Surround Yourself with Believers Part 2 of 2

Blog post two of the series, "Surround Yourself with Believers". You can read my first blog post in the series here. 

Our Life Mission

Our mission in life should be to discover our talents. Each of us have been given a unique set of talents and skills. Our personality combined with our talents make each of us unique. The combination makes each of us great. After we discover our talents we need to align them with our passions. Our talents aligned with our passions will guide our life, give us fulfillment, and help each of us live our life mission. 

The next important step—surround ourselves with believers. Those who know our skills, our talents, and who we will become if we are patient, work hard, and believe.

Henrik, You Got This

A prefect example of this occurred behind the scenes at the 2013 X Games in Aspen Colorado between Tanner Hall and Henrik Harlaut.

Let me set the stage. Henrik was in first place at X Game Big Air competition. As he walks up to do one of his final jumps he gets a pep talk from Tanner Hall. Tanner understands Henrik talents and skills. The result was powerful. 

Watch the clip to see how important it was for Henrik to surround himself with a believer—Tanner Hall. 

But I Can Win Without It.

To me one of the most game changing lines was when Henrik says, "yeah, but I can still win without doing it." Tanner's response,  "I know you can do this, you got this! Believe in yourself, believe in your skill. You know exactly what your are doing. Let's put it in the history books. Let's take skiing to the next level!" The right response from a believer.

The Power

As you watch the video, you can see the words start to have an impact on Henrik. He even smiles back at Tanner. As Henrik gets ready to take his run you hear Tanner say, "You got this son!" 

Henrik skis down and does the world's first ever Nose Butter Triple Cork 1620 and claims the gold medal. I watched this live on TV and it was incredible. To listen to the words of Tanner to Henrik minutes before the trick was inspirational.

The Key

In life each of us will have naysayers. There will be those who don't care to understand our skills, our potential,  or what we will become. Don't waste your time with them. Discover your talents, align them to your passions, and surround yourself with believers. We are all meant to do great things.   

"You got this son!"

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Life Without Regrets

Each moment of this life is precious. We must live a life without regrets. Dieter F Uchtdorf, former Lufthansa Airlines executive, gave a great talk about living a life without regrets. 

Life Without Regrets

In his talk Dieter reflected on a nurse who cared for the terminally ill. The nurse would ask her patients one question as they prepared to leave this life, "Do you have any regrets?" Many of them had regrets. Dieter than discussed the top three regrets people have before they die. As I read about these top regrets, I knew I would want to write a blog about this topic. My goal is that these words might help each of us focus on living a life without regrets, a life to our fullest potential.

My goal has been to learn from history and to learn from wise people who have gone before. If I do, maybe I can make less mistakes in this life and live life to its fullest, without regrets.

The World's Top 3 Life Regrets 

#1. I Wish I Had Spent More Time with the People I Love

People deeply regretted that they spent so much of their lives on the daily treadmill of work. Many had lost out on choice memories that come from spending time with family and friends. If this is the top regret. How can each of us not have this regret?

How to Not Have this Regret

I believe it will take a life of balance. And when we are given leadership responsibilities over teams or we run companies, it will be vital that we make sure we promote a well-balanced life outside of work.

#2 I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential

To me this is an important regret we should never let happen. Too many people look back on their lives and realize that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung.

How to Not Have this Regret

Each of us must spend time understanding our talents. Each of us have talents. We also have many talents that are undiscovered. It needs to be our pursuit to understand our talents. Too many times in life, we only focus on our weaknesses. As a manager, an executive, or a coach, the goal needs to be to understand the talents of our teams and help our team members unleash their talents. Finding our talents will help each of us live up to our potential.

#3 I Wish I had Let Myself Be Happier

Dieter said, "So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial. The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don't really determine our happiness. We determine our happiness."

How to Not Have this Regret

Each of us must be grateful each day. We must look at the positives of our situations and the positive of others we meet and work with. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react. To be happy is to enjoy this journey of life and help others succeed. Helping others is the easiest way to find happiness daily.

Let's make the commitment today to live a life without regrets. 

About Me

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Mark Twain - Explore. Dream. Discover.

One of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Many times it's our fear that stops us from moving forward. Find your talents, use them for good, and live a fulfilled life focusing on the positive and the positive of others.

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Run Up Mountains

It's a new year. As we set goals for 2013, let's not forget the importance of overcoming the challenges that will stand in the way of these goals. These challenges will be like mountains. Run up them.

Run Up Mountains to Achieve Goals

There is something about running up mountains that I love. The ability to move one step forward closer to the summit. You can apply a lot of what it takes to run up a mountain to what you need to do in life to achieve goals. You can't give up. You've got to move forward with every step over the challenges to the top of the summit. The vistas from the top are worth the climb. 

And that is what we need to do, move forward, up mountains, making ourselves and our lives better step by step until we achieve our goals.

When we look back on the journey to our goals this year, we will say, "You know what, the climb was well worth it and we are stronger because of it." Keep moving forward with your challenges. Never give up. Keep running up mountains.

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