Determination

Here is a tough question – one that is easy to answer when things are going well, but what about the times when the challenges are more than you can bear? When the odds are stacked against you, do you decide that the dream must be just too far out of reach?

No matter how it may appear, everyone who succeeds will have faced this. And one precarious step at a time, the climber who keeps putting one foot in front of the other will, in time, get to the top. It’s rarely a smooth, downhill journey to anything worthwhile.

Maybe you feel like your path is only getting scarier, bumpier, and maybe even darker than you thought it should be. But so long as one more step can be taken, you have something to do.

The way will be lighted as you keep taking just one more step of faith into the darkness.

I can hear you saying, “But you don’t know what I’m up against!”

That may be true. But what I do know is that there are principles of success that apply to everyone, no matter what the situation. The fact is, somewhere in the world there is someone worse off than you, who is still determined to achieve his or her dream, and who is still taking one more step no matter how weary they are.

So I want you to hang in there, too.

Dreams worth living for are dreams worth fighting for. If they weren’t worth fighting for, then they wouldn’t be worthy of you.

I received an email many years ago that I want to share with you. Here is a man who is determined, against the odds.

I believe this man will ultimately succeed, because of the priority he places on gaining knowledge. While a bankruptcy may permanently kill the dreams of the average person, this man has taken the lessons he’s learned, is picking up the pieces, and starting the climb again with a deeper commitment to moving forward with more wisdom, more understanding, more maturity, and probably even more compassion for others who face similar difficulties.

See if you would think like this if you were in his shoes:

Hello Leslie & Trevan, I bought the Mindset Mastery Program sometime early last year. I had a little resistance to writing stuff down, but wanted to make this a priority… until I had a major setback.

I took care of my elderly parents for 5 years and my mother lived to be 94. For the last 2 years she was alive, she couldn’t get out of bed without my help, so I became a full-time caregiver with no income, taking care of her 24 hours a day, living only on her social security and barely making the bills. At that time, I defaulted on a few credit cards.

In July of 2008, one of my creditors garnished my wages. They were taking 25% of my $10/hr salary, and I live alone. I didn’t want to declare bankruptcy, and I resisted it for 8 months while I was working as much overtime as possible, often working 12/13 hours a day, and barely able to meet my bills. Of course, I had eliminated as many bills as possible by discontinuing services such as television and long distance phone service, and moving out of a storage space. I had already stopped paying for house insurance.

I went without my car for 6 weeks because I didn’t have $300 for a car repair.

But I kept telling myself, there are a lot of people worse off than I am. I should be thankful for what I have. At least I have a job, even though I wasn’t able to take home my full salary.

In March, I was unable to pay my rent at the beginning of the month, in spite of all the overtime I was working. I pawned my mother’s diamond ring and paid a bankruptcy lawyer to put a stop to the garnishment. So by April 15th, I started getting my full salary again. On May 15th, I went to court for the meeting with the Trustee. All my papers were in order. It will be another few months before the bankruptcy is dismissed, but I have done my part.

Now, it’s time to get back to my Mindset Mastery Program. I did manage to send you the money for the CD’s in December. There was no way I was going to miss out on that.

I have really been enjoying them, but I have to go back and start from the beginning and write down the things I did not do the first time.

I want to concentrate on this, as I feel it is the key to my future. I still look at all of the opportunities out there, but I am aware that if I try to start or join some business with my previous mindset, I can expect the same results as I was getting before.

There is no need to jump into anything at this point. Except my Mindset Mastery Program manual!

I’m really excited about the online version. This is a way for you to open the program up to a lot of people who don’t think they can come up with the money for the regular manual (although I’m very glad I did.) There are so many people who need this! C. J.

Now, did you notice how this reader, in spite of his difficulties, found something to be grateful for? We all have something for which we can be grateful, no matter how bad things may seem to be.

Finding gratitude shifts something in your mind and heart, and opens doors that help you see what your best next step should be.

That’s what I call initiating the Jackrabbit Factor in your life: setting a goal properly with the right mindset, and as a result, instinctively knowing what you should do next to achieve it.

Economic setback can cause a real “shake-up”. When they happen, some people will rise to the top, but some will stay buried. If you work on your mental buoyancy, you’ll rise to the top like a ping pong ball in a tumbler of sand. But if you let yourself stay discouraged, you’ll sink to the bottom like a rock.

What happens to you in an economic shake-up will depend on how you demonstrate your determination today. Keep learning, so that you’ll have the mental buoyancy you need to always rise back up to the top.

Learn more about the Mindset Mastery Program at ProspertheFamily.com.

Leslie Householder
Latest posts by Leslie Householder (see all)

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Carol Rigby

    Our life upon this earth is all about creation. Creating our own life each moment, each thought, word and then action. We are not only creating our own lives but we can also affect the creation of others as we live in close proximity to them. Like a parent will have a big impact upon the creation of a child, not only physically but also mentally. This we can call the ‘traditions of the fathers’, each parent will have the choice but more often than not whatever the parents outlook on life will become the child’s until they are old enough to choose a different way. We can all change, step by step, we can all become whatever we desire, one thought at a time.

    Power To Create

    Upon this earth my life create
    As I do learn to concentrate
    The thoughts that play within my mind
    Will bring their level and their kind.

    Our Lord did work through power of thought
    To create whatever He sought
    This earth was then created by word
    As life it did obey The Lord.

    As I do pray and I do ask
    I must be willing to do the task
    Use my mind to paint the picture
    Then focus and let thought conquer.

    Take on the action it require
    Pray to Heaven for spirits fire
    Then go to work in good kind state
    Step by step my desire create.

    Carol Rigby

  2. mommabear

    Dr. Paul said something today along the lines of: The process of achieving success is more important that the outcome.

    It is WHO we are becoming in the process. If we haven’t found success yet it is only because we are in the middle of writing a really great story… and some of us are writing novels.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.