This article was last updated on December 29, 2015
If you’ve got a major goal and you’re serious about achieving it, you’ll never get there without a serious dose of determination! Determination is to success as oxygen is to life. It is a pre-requisite. Anyone who has ever achieved anything significant has done so on the back of their determination. The good news is regardless of how much determination you have shown to date, you can improve your levels of determination.
It all begins by eliminating these 10 behaviours…
The 10 Things Determined People Don’t Do
1. The Determined don’t give up on their goal, regardless of how tough things get! They have powerful reasons that force them to keep going and their ability to continue to fight while others drop off is what earns them the title while others watch on with envy.
If you want to be more determined, decide first that you will not give up until you achieve your goal. Get clear on your reasons why you must achieve it and what the consequences of failure are. The greater the consequences you have, the greater your level of determination.
2. The Determined don’t let Failure stop them. They understand they may fail initially and frequently but they will succeed eventually. They are resilient and this why they often make the greatest of comebacks!
However, what many fail to realise is their resilience stems from their flexibility. Bashing your head against a brick wall hoping it will break is not Determination. It’s stupidity. Determined people will continue to try new things and keep changing their approach until they achieve their outcome. The Determined are like a palm tree. They will bend in the wind and will always come back. The stubborn (who think they are determined) are often the ones who will end up broken and battered.
3. The Determined don’t let the fear of failure stop them. Most people with a dream give up before they even start because of a fear of failure. The Determined are the opposite. For them not having a go and not giving their all is a burden that is too much to bear. Their fear of having to admit they did not give their all is what motivates them to get started and then keep moving forwards
If the fear of failure is stopping you, set an immediate, painful and preferably public consequence for not starting. When you have a consequence that is more painful than your fear of failure, you’ll tap into your natural determination.
4. The Determined don’t let what they don’t know stop them. They are willing to grow, ask lots of questions and fall on their face a few times until they achieve their outcome.
Understand that your current limitations in life are not permanent. Your present situation is based on your past. Start taking new actions today and you’ll create a new future. Determination is only fruitful if you’re willing to use it to grow.
5. The Determined don’t fear rejection. They are willing to ask lots of people lots of times until they get what they want.
The greatest entrepreneurs, executives and salespeople are the ones who don’t let rejection stop them. Their reasons why they had to succeed were greater than their fear. Billionaire James Dyson failed 5, 126 times over 15 years before he successfully invented his first Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner. Determination in Action! Walt Disney was turned down by 302 bankers before he got the funding he needed.
The list of successful people who had to use their determination to overcome rejection is endless. If you want to achieve something significant, you’re going to be rejected. The only way you’ll overcome it is if you’re determined!
6. The Determined are not impulsive. They are patient, willing to wait for their opportunity to pounce. In today’s society, we are all about wanting everything right now. We look for instant success, instant riches and instant gratification. The Determined are completely different. They are prepared to wait until their turn shows up.
Donald Trump, love him or hate him, is one of the most determined people you’ll meet. He watched the building at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan for decades before making his move. Now that’s patience!
Sometimes what you want may not be possible right now and there may be nothing you can do about it. That’s fine. The determined don’t give up. They understand they can outwait their competition and their adversity if needed.
7. The Determined don’t let limiting beliefs stop them from moving forward. They don’t self-sabotage. Their attitude is they will find a way through regardless of what happens and they certainly won’t be standing in their own way.
Don’t let what you can’t do or what you don’t think you’re capable stop you from achieving what you want. Les Brown says, “To achieve something you’ve never achieved before, you need to become someone you’ve never been before.” That’s the Mantra of The Determined.
8. Determined People don’t shy away from adversity. If anything, they embrace it. They actively seek it out because they understand that every adversity has an advantage and they want to harness it.
By being so willing to take on adversity to achieve their goal, the Determined immediately put themselves ahead of everyone else who is intimidated by adversity. Not giving up when adversity strikes is the first part of the equation. Being prepared in advance so it doesn’t throw you off your game is the second part.
9. The Determined don’t require the approval of others. They couldn’t care less what others think. They only care what they think of themselves. Their subsequent high levels of self esteem allow them to take on bigger and bigger challenges.
Ensure you listen to your instinct. If it says to go for something while others say don’t, don’t listen to them. As Will Smith says, don’t listen to the Little Man. Learn to trust your instincts. It’s what you must do if you want to become more determined and achieve your goals.
10. The Determined are not lazy. They understand you can’t achieve a 10 Million Dollar Dream with a 10$ an Hour work ethic.
If you want to achieve your dreams, you have to out-work, out-hustle and out-think the competition. It’s not just the extra hours but what you do with the extra time that matters. Ensure you are taking the right actions toward achieving your dreams – otherwise, the extra hours won’t matter. Hard work that’s dumb is demoralising. Work hard but be smart as well!
It can be a long ride to the top and you have to be willing to do what it takes for as long as it takes. That’s determination. That’s what it will take. Are you ready?
Photo credit: Peter Mooney
