“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” ~ Charles F. Kettering

In last week’s blog post, I wrote about “The Power of Perseverance.” Let me probe a little further today…

Allow me to state the obvious. Success is only achieved if you possess the courage – the intestinal fortitude – to stick it out long enough to see your dreams become a reality. Dreaming about the future is one thing, but the secret to success is in the doing!

Your business started with an idea! You gathered all the needed information and created a your business plan. You committed to all kinds of fancy goals and strategies. But then came decision time. Would you go ahead and jump in with both feet or would you bail out because the venture appeared too difficult and too risky?

It is often at this stage that the greatest challenges emerge. In an age of “instant solutions” and “quick fixes”, many people expect results even before they start doing anything. They take a few steps and quit prematurely because they don’t experience phenomenal success immediately. They throw in the towel, wondering why their plan didn’t work. The real question is did they work the plan? Did they follow through? Did they persevere?

The secret to success is in the DOING and in the “KEEP DOING.” For how long? As long as it takes! What do you have to do to succeed? Whatever it takes!

Only you can decide how much time and energy you will invest to ensure that your goals are achieved. But once you have decided, make sure you FOLLOW THROUGH! Be true to yourself. Honour your word. Take action, and persevere. As in the story in last week’s blog post, don’t stop three feet short of the gold!

You may choose to follow someone else’s plan because they achieved success in an arena similar to yours. But remember: your outcome may look very different from theirs. You are unique. Only you can write your own story and create your own outcome. Whatever the outcome is, it’s an experience that was worth having. You either learned HOW TO DO something or HOW NOT TO DO something.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t need help from others. Actually, your learning and progress can often be greatly accelerated by the people you surround yourself with. However, don’t ever forget that the final buck stops with you.

Here is the simple truth, the SINGLE SOLITARY REASON why so few people ever achieve their dreams: they are simply UNWILLING to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes! Few people fail, many people quit, most people don’t even try! The secret to success is in the DOING! In the words of NIKE, JUST DO IT!

Here’s something to consider…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt

Get in the arena. Stay in the fight. Embrace the prize. Savour the victory.

Here’s to your success!

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach/Advisor – Ottawa, Canada