From the 'What You Need to Succeed' Series

Every once in awhile I stop and take a look at myself. No I dont mean in the mirror, I mean I do a self-assessment of how I am managing the issues in my life. Have I let some circumstance or some event persuade me to give up on one of my dreams? How hard did I try?

Ever hear the expression, Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration?

Im here to tell you that its true. If you want to succeed, one of the KEY things you absolutely MUST have is the determination and commitment to make sure you dont let anything stop you from achieving the success you are dreaming of and planning for (and yes you need a plan!)

Whenever I run into an obstacle, hurdle, or challenge to my success my instinctive reaction is usually to visualize it as a huge stone blocking my path. I then visualize myself moving the stone, OR figuring out a way to get around it, over it, under it, or through it. What I always know about a hurdle is this: I can always find a way to get past it if I just look hard enough.

And when you really KNOW this (from experience), it gives you the confidence you need to succeed. So let me give you an example of how this has worked in MY life.

There was a time when I worked as an IT contractor. I was a borderline DEC computer geek, and I was able to breathe life into computers others had given up for dead, or resolve issues that others thought were hopeless. It wasnt because I was a genius it was mostly because I was resourceful. I took notes on everything I learned the hard way over the years, and I created a notebook that I took with me everywhere I went. That notebook paid my salary on many projects. Plus, I also kept a list of who I could contact for help if I got stuck.

One day, I got a call for a short contract assignment. I seems that several folks in a big government agency were not able to get one of their DEC systems working properly. And it was causing problems because it was winter time and the computer was designed to measure the water flow in several major streams throughout my state. Flood control was almost non-existent with this computer down.

I will never forget this assignment because as I was unpacking my briefcase someone who worked in the facility came up to me, sneered skeptically and said, five people have already tried their best to fix this thing and have given up on it so what makes you think YOU can do any better?

Clearly, he didn't expect me to succeed.

I was a little bit taken aback by his comment, but, I quickly retorted with Yeah, well, thats because none of them were ME.

And thats how I began my work on this project. I mapped out my approach to how I planned to solve this problem, and figured out most of what was needed on my own. But when I hit a snag or two, I made a couple of support calls, and got in touch with someone who knew what I needed to resolve some of those challenges.

And within a couple of days, I was walking back out the door, mission accomplished. As I was leaving, I passed by Mr. Cheerful and stopped long enough to ask OK, so now please tell me why I succeeded. I loved this part.

Stumped, he squinted and shrugged, saying Geez, I dunno.

I said Its because those other people gave up too soon and didn't plan to succeed," I smiled, pointing to and tapping on my notebook.

I have to admit I reveled a little bit in demolishing his expectation that I would fail just as my predecessors had.

This success, like many others I've had, served to reinforce what was already ingrained in me by then. The longer you stay with something, the more of an expert youll become. The greater your expertise, the more likely you will solve problems and assure your success.

Its really pretty simple: Map out a path for your vision, find a way to always reference what you've already learned, work with others to provide support, and never give up.

(c) 2005 by Kevin Wirth - all rights reserved worldwide