“Trying is nothing–achieving is everything!”

(I took a lot of liberties in fine-tuning this post because the original poster speaks English as a second language, so he had several grammatical issues. However, I kept the core post. -Derrick Mills)

“I’ll try," “I am about to do something new,” “I do my best”, and “I work really hard” are statements that can all be summed up in the same category. They have in common that they leave the door open, like a path for refuge, in case you are not successful in pursuing your goals. To try something you only need some motivation, and such is not very “expensive”. To be successful on the other hand--you need much more. You need an inner strength that comes from your true self--from the core of your being that cannot be acquired very easily, or even be bought somewhere.

Motivation is overestimated–perseverance is what counts

In general, motivation as a decisive factor for success is exaggerated. In particular, in the realm of self-help, there is much talk about it--probably because it is “cheap” to use motivation; for it seems to be so logical--and things cannot go wrong that way–that is, at least, the kind of thinking many have. So, many proponents of self-help “gurus”--if you will--talk about motivation all of the time. Nothing scares many of them more than the situation that their “system” is successfully questioned when people find out that there is no substance behind the many words. I admit there is some joy in detecting a prophet not following his own prophecies.
It is a fact that motivation (which derives from the Latin word “motus” standing for movement) is an important factor to begin to work on an issue. However, to activate this energy is very rarely ever a problem at all. In most cases, the pain of life is big enough to make people active. On the other side, it is very seldom that the wish for a better life motivates someone to start doing something. “Every beginning is hard,” a well-known (German) saying goes, but that is completely wrong. To begin something is easy, every loser has begun many things; that is nothing special–and another (truer) saying is that the path to Hell is paved with many good intentions.
The actual difficulty with success is perseverance; the ability to stick to an activity--even if you have no drive at all, even if your life has turned into a dark valley of scarcity where everybody else wants you to give up, and even if your inner voice advises you to settle down and be content with and accept what life has to offer to you. Those are the hardest times of your life, when the tasks come up, that are very demotivating and that need a lot of energy to be overcome; motivation, alone, completely fails here. What we need then is the ability to persevere, and such is only developed by training and having an iron discipline and acquiring habits in every situation–really in every situation–to do what we have to do to reach our goals and what we have committed ourselves to. Another thing important here--that shall not be neglected--is BELIEF! Life happens according to our beliefs. This is not a shallow, religious platitude, and it belongs to the things that have been proven accurate at all times at all places. Moreover, it will not be different in the future either. We have to believe in ourselves and our success. Otherwise, we will not be successful.

Willpower–the core energy of success

You need a burning fire within your soul, a fire that will not go out very quickly to reach your goals. We all have dreams, but dreams alone don’t commit us to anything at all; they are “cheap” (economically speaking). Every loser has dreams en masse. What distinguishes a winner from a loser is his commitment and his resolution to get what he wants and what he demands from life. Success has to become your must; otherwise, you are only half-heartedly following your goals. Dreams don’t mean anything at all until you turn your dreams into goals and come to a final decision that–without any questions–you will achieve them. If we believe in reaching our goals, if we have completely committed to them, there is no good and evil anymore. We don’t see the world that way from that point onwards. We only see what we have to do to get what we want. Obstacles and resistances are nothing else but technical affairs that we have and will be overcome–nothing more. If we have developed this mindset (which will develop over time by constantly striving) we will never again consider ourselves being victims, but the ones that create their own destinies and own outcomes in life.
We now know for the longest time that the will is guiding us as human beings. Even the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer made will one of his most central themes of his philosophy. However, what most people don’t know, up to this date, is that we can influence our will and that we can train and develop it. Will is created and molded by practice; an unbroken chain of exercising, and gaining control over it is the result of an expanded conscious, which comes from regular self-reflection that covers more and more areas of our mental life (without falling into negativity of course).
Focus is strongly related to willpower; the ability to use your mental energy in a concentrated way to accomplish a task that lies before your eyes.

Focus–turning your mind into a concentrated power

We live in times in which people are demanded to one thing, and simultaneously, are already out doing something else. While you are occupied with one task, you are supposed to start doing another. This is what is known as “multitasking,” a term that derives from computer software and working with it. Applying multitasking on human beings and human behavior is nonsense, at least in the way we usually understand it.
The energy we need to do one thing is missing somewhere else, and doing many things at the same time will only lead to mediocre results–at best. However, there is a much more reality-related way of working and that is the art of switching very quickly between different tasks. We have to finish one task completely--with unlimited mental power--and then go over to the next one. We then have the advantage of not having to worry whether we did right what we just did--because our mind was completely present. Moreover, we also don’t have to be afraid of not accomplishing the next task--for our mind will be present as well. Such a way of working will never cause stress. Stress is nothing else but the politically correct way of addressing fear. Moreover, if we are not concentrated on a task while we are doing it, it is no wonder that we very likely will be afraid of having made mistakes–and in many cases--this fear will be justified for we actually made mistakes.
One of the most beautiful expressions ever I believe in is "presence of mind.” This presence of mind enables us to orientate ourselves much better in the world and in our own inner life. It, furthermore, gives us the opportunity to always have our personal goals in mind, and to make sure that we do not deviate from the right path to achieve them.

Conclusion–total commitment

If you are not willing--or not able--to do something 100 percent, you better do not even start at all. The world is already full of half-born, half-developed stuff–be they products, services, or even mere ideas and imagination. If we do not do our work completely--if we are not committed to something without any way out if we fail, no matter how hard something is, no matter how much resistance we face--we are lost already, and the world would be much better off if we would just shut up. Only if our commitment is independent, will we be of good service to the world and the universe. Only then will we leave traces, for which we won’t have to be ashamed of, and which our children and grand-children will still be seeing. That will be our legacy to the world, to mankind, and to God.
So, if you ever detect yourself using the words “try,” “test something”, or the like, grab yourself at your throat, and get conscious about what you are saying to yourself. What message are you giving to yourself right at that moment?! Then, change your self-talk into a positive direction, raise the standard for yourself, and say: “I can, and I will be successful at any costs!” Don’t allow yourself to have any thoughts of failure. How do you do that? By practice–constant practice that finally becomes your habit. Over time, you will reach a mental level that you could never have dreamt of before. If you have overcome the obstacles of the beginning, you will face new challenges. However, the more demanding the test and the harder your job becomes, the more you can learn. -Oliver Maerk, Courtesy of Freedom, Power, and Wealth (November 21, 2015)

(You can read more of Oliver Maerk’s posts at the aforecited link. You can also pickup his book here.)

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