Tenacity. It is a quality that develops when you are fixed upon your purpose. It’s a necessary quality to have when you are trying something challenging or that will take considerable time to achieve. Tenacity implies that you will do whatever it takes to accomplish your vision and reach your goals.   It involves persistence, determination and perseverance, all strong words that support the theories of success.

Regular students of success philosophies are familiar with the writings and stories about persistence. Napoleon Hill gave us the often used quote: Anything the human mind can conceive and believe, when organized around a purpose and a plan, can be achieved. All too often, the organization phrase is left out in common usage, yet it is the key to achievement. Knowing your purpose and developing a plan that you can follow with persistence yields the prize.

Bob Proctor, the success coach commonly known from his appearance in the movie The Secret, began his successful pursuits when he studied the words of Napoleon Hill and owned them through his actions.   He went from $4,000 a year income as a fireman to over $100,000 within a year. He built multiple, highly successful janitorial services using the principles of success before moving into the personal development field. To this day, Proctor devotes one month a year re-reading one specific chapter every day. It is the chapter on persistence.

Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich is filled with stories of perseverance. An entire chapter is devoted to persistence. Greg Reid and Sharon Lechter picked up on one of those stories as they wrote Three Feet from Gold, the tale of a young man who gave up his pursuit of a vein of gold, only to have the new owner find it three feet from where he had stopped. Greg has gone on to write extensively on this quality of persistence – stickiness.

Hill is clear on one point. The ability to develop determination and the self-discipline to pursue our goals begins with purpose. A couple weeks ago, I suggested that you might find this a great time to plan for your New Year’s resolutions so that you could build them around your goals. Such planning constitutes a great strategy session that improves your chance of achieving goals because you attach them to your purpose and the big “Why” behind the actions you choose to take.

If you are going through this process, you may want to ask a few questions of yourself. What is it about your goal that resonates deep within you? Call it passion. Call it purpose. Why does it fill you with enthusiasm and drive? Why does it stick with you even when you experience obstacles? The answer is extremely important to your ability to maintain the pressure that moves you along the path to your greatest desires.

And if you are unclear about your purpose, one of your resolutions may be to identify your purpose this year. A good place to start might be to observe yourself. What are you drawn to? What do you study or watch? Who are your friends? Who are your heroes and heroines? Where do you like to go? What things do you want? If money is your big goal, ask yourself why? What does money mean to you? What feelings come up when you think about having money? How will you use it? If you had all the money you currently dream about having, what would your life look like? As you go through these questions, a pattern of feelings will emerge around the things you have in your current lifestyle and the ones you would like to have.   How will you feel when you have them?

Purpose brings a sense of direction. Purpose brings passion. Passion brings tenacity and the ability to stick to it. The emotions you feel when you sense movement toward that which you desire brings such joy and well-being. Take the time this season to align with how you envision your dreams and draw the road map that appears to take you to them. With this in hand, may you find all the tenacity you require to not only keep your New Year’s resolutions, but also move steadily toward your goals.

To Your Success,

Susan