Determination: The Power To Sustain The Release of Your Potential.

It gives firmness to one’s purpose, defines the quality of his commitment and focuses his mind on the end result, strengthening his will and allowing his potential to keep flowing such as to hold on and bounce back when faced with hurdles and temporary defeats. Determination is the force that sustains the release of one’s potential.

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.” Tom Hopkins

There is no doubt that you’ve got potential, that you are capable of being and doing what you are called to be and do in life.
Your creator did not make any mistake in giving you the genetic makeup that you have and in allowing you to pass through all the circumstances of life that you have experienced.
You are who you are for the sole purpose of becoming who you are meant to be – that person that you have always been dreaming of becoming.
As mentioned earlier on, having faith in God, believing in your mission and in your ability to carry it on through life is the key to unlocking your potential.

But how successful you will be on your journey to the fulfillment of your life’s purpose will depend on how determined you are to get “there”.
You see, the road to real success in life is sprinkled with hurdles.
There is no great achiever who has never met with obstacles, adversities and temporary failures. Think of people like:

• Thomas A. Edison who is said to have failed about 10,000 times before perfecting the incandescent electric bulb light. Commenting on his several failures, he once said: “I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
• François Mitterand, considered as the most respected president in France after Charles de Gaulle, lost the presidential election in 1965 against De Gaulle, failed to get the needed support to represent the left wing in 1969 and lost again in 1974 against Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
  He never gave up on his dream of leading the Republic of France which he eventually did from 1981 to 1995.
  Together with Helmut Khol of Germany, they fathered the Maastricht treaty which was signed on February 7, 1992 and led to the creation of the European Union and the Euro.
• Walt Disney found himself eating dog food after his first animation company, Lough O’Gram Studio, went bankrupt in 1923, only one year after its creation.
  He lost the ownership of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit along with a bunch of his employees in 1928 before creating Mickey Mouse which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) refused to distribute.
  W. Disney met with misfortune on several occasions but he never gave up. It is said that his request for a loan to finance Disneyland project was rejected by 301 banks before he got an approval.

A closer look at the lives of these great achievers and of those not mentioned here reveals that they all have in common one trait of character – tenacity, the quality of being determined to do or achieve something.
Determination gives firmness to purpose, allowing it to be definite. It also defines the quality of commitment.

It is evident that success is mainly a matter of determination. It is determination that causes achievers not to give up. It is determination that births persistence and resilience, and makes one follow through his actions plan until he breaks through whatever obstacle on his way to achievement.
Determination focuses one’s mind on the end result, strengthening his will and allowing his potential to keep flowing such as to hold on and bounce back when faced with hurdles and temporary defeats.
Determination is the force that sustains the release of one’s potential.