Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a self-help book kick. I average about one book every one or two weeks, depending on how long and how into the style of writing I am. But either way, I’ve come to find myself intrigued by something that I now search for in everyone: their level of determination. An unwavering faith. The people who seemed immovable, no matter how many doubters present themselves in front of them, are the ones that inspire me most. I find that it is so rare to find someone who sees what they want and doesn’t care what it takes, as long as they eventually come to that point. That’s what motivates me, and the kind of people I strive to surround myself with.
As a former competitive ice hockey player, I know what it feels like to have to push yourself beyond your limits. You know, do the uncomfortable. Without even merely trying to lift more weights, skate faster, and try out for better teams, you don’t progress. But at the end of the day, when you’re lacing up your skates and you’re about to step onto the ice, it’s less about who has more skill than it is about who is more determined to win. There were so many games I played in the ten or more years I played competitively where the skill was even. What mattered at the end when you looked at the scoreboard was who wanted it more. The people who want to succeed as much as they have to breathe are the ones who end up victorious.
It will sound insane to some people if you haven’t found what you truly want to accomplish in this life. That rush you get when you’re engaged in whatever activity sets your soul on fire. It feels as though time is irrelevant and you can be yourself, without hesitation. You feel free, like you’re flying and you can do anything. That’s what these people feel, every day when they think about their goals and dreams, ready to conquer another day of productivity and progress.
For what separates those who succeed from those who don’t is that their determination is woven into their soul. They wear it every single day. When they wake up, when they go to work, when they come home, and when they go to bed. They never part with it. It’s, for better or for worse, their best friend. Always there reminding them of what they want, and that they are going to get it, no matter what it takes. It’s the little voice in their head reminding them they can do more, so they go out and do more. Even on the hard days, when they want nothing more than to lay in bed and throw in the towel. They don’t care. Their determination doesn’t care. They continue to persist, no matter what it takes.
To some people, they watch friends of theirs like this and think they’re selfish. But they are just merely selfish in the pursuit of what they know will give them the future they want. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing so, ever. If you want something bad enough, go get it. It’s not selfish, it’s what’s right. (This is, of course, assuming whatever you want will not injure, offend, or otherwise commit ill acts towards anyone. Because that, my friends, is always unacceptable. No matter what country or planet you reside.)
There’s very little that sets you apart from the others who succeed. To the successful ones, it doesn’t matter if it takes years, months, days, hours, decades, etc. It doesn’t matter where in the world they have to go or who in the world they have to acquaint themselves with, either. Because to them, nothing is as precious or satisfying as being able to look back one day and realize how far they’ve come. And someday, they want to be able to look in the mirror and know that everything they did, every choice they made, every morning they got up when they didn’t want to, led to the moment they’d been imagining their entire lives. The moment where their dreams became their reality. And nothing–absolutely nothing–tastes as sweet as watching our dreams happen right before our very eyes.
