Developing your will power is directly related to your success in life. No one can over-estimate the power of your will to do.
Most people do not fail because of a lack of education. History is filled with uneducated or poorly educated millionaires who didn’t let this supposed shortcoming hold them back. On the contrary, what they may have lacked in education was obliterated by their overpowering will to succeed, no matter how many times they failed along the way.
It is the lack of determination and will power that is the true reason so many people fail. Just as an athlete trains for a physical game that takes concentrated effort, the mind must be trained with the proper skills to win in life.
The process of obtaining this self-mastery — the complete command of your mind’s powers — is a gradual one. It involves determination and the daily task of making it a habit. Once you have self-mastery, the cost of obtaining it will bring a real sense of accomplishment and a realization how minimal the cost really was in the long run.
You don’t need to be a genius to succeed — just make yourself do the thing you need to do when it has to get done, whether you like it or not. This is one of the best lessons you can learn.
When Henry Ward Beecher was asked how he could accomplish so much more than others, he replied, “I don’t do more, but less than others. They do all their work three times. Once in anticipation, once in actuality, and once in rumination. I do mine in actuality alone, so I end up doing things just once.”
Beecher could concentrate his mind on what he was doing at a given moment. Then he’d go do something else and concentrate on his new task. One of the secrets of a successful life is the ability to focus all of our energies on one thing at a time.
Don’t waste time worrying as it only crowds your thoughts with worthless clutter. Focus on what you’re doing when you’re doing it, and stop worry before it stops you. Worry is an energy vampire. It reduces your chances for success and it can make life miserable for those around you.
Learning to focus your efforts is the only way you will achieve the success you’re capable of achieving. The earlier in life you learn this simple fact, the more likely you will overcome everything that slows you down and prevents you from reaching true success in everything you do.
Here’s a recipe for a wasted life — just go about every day trying to do too many things all at once. Splitting yourself up into a hundred little parts leads to nowhere.
Yes, there are some people who like to juggle a number of tasks, and they may be good at it, but for most of us the need to concentrate on one task at a time is imperative to getting the job done. It’s not the amount of work you get done in a day or week or even a year, but it’s your persistence in constantly moving forward that will get you where you want to go.
Keep at it! And remember …
Focus, Focus, Focus.