The power of determination

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” Mario Andretti

Every human being have some kind of talent, unfortunately not everyone is successful in his life. Talent is just overrated and determination is the real key to success. Determination means having the ability to stay focused on your goals and to be firm on your decision. You cannot imagine how much joy and fulfillment you will get by pursuing your dreams but in this journey, life will always throw up massive obstacles and distractions to keep you away from achieving your purpose. At this point, your determination may vanish gradually until one day you find yourself out of the game. To prevent that from happening you need to develop constantly your determination.

To build up a strong determination, you need to know first, the components of this concept and the effect of each one of them. The author of the Anatomy of Determination, Paul Graham describes determination as a combination of three elements:

Willfulness

Willfulness is the trait of being hard to distract, with a strong will nothing can stop you, but you need to guide your will if you want to make it profitable.

Self-discipline

Self-discipline is the ability to control emotions, desires and behavior but it does not mean being harsh toward yourself, or living a restrictive lifestyle. When you control yourself, you can use the energy provided by your will to follow your dreams. Once you anchor this skill, you will also develop an inner strength, which will put you away from some bad habits like procrastination. You can strengthen your self-disciple by looking into your undisciplined behavior and its consequences and taking charge to change those behaviors.

“Being strong-willed is not enough (…). You also have to be hard on yourself. Someone who was strong-willed but self-indulgent would not be called determined. Determination implies your willfulness is balanced by discipline.”

Ambition

Ambition is the tool that you should use to set your goals; it is the component that put will strength’s and self-discipline together and without it, you cannot accomplish that much. With great ambition, you increase the thirst to achieve incredible results.

“If willfulness and discipline are what get you to your destination, ambition is how you choose it.”

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