3D Tenacity

My youngest daughter is finishing her final college course this week. I couldn't be more proud. Typically, the news wouldn't be all that extraordinary. After all, people complete degree programs all the time.

So what makes her so special, aside from the fact that she's my daughter and I get to select the content of my writing? For starters, her achievement exemplifies the things we can all accomplish if we will just look beyond our circumstances and allow the power of our vision to carry us to the finish line of success. The fact that we finish anything in our society anymore is fast becoming an anomaly. The distractions alone are often enough to derail even the most determined among us.

My daughter is in her mid-thirties—well beyond an age where an undergraduate degree is expected to be conferred. In fact, just thirty-two percent of Americans have successfully earned their bachelor's degree. The percentages are even less for those over the age of 26. Add to this statistic the number of recipients whose lives were disrupted and the number drops even lower. Of course, the definition of "disruption" is rather vague and does little to cull the data in order to provide any measurable value. Suffice it to say, however, any amount of disruption typically places significant stressors in the form of obstacles onto the path of just about any goal or objective.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of my daughter's journey is tenacity. Tenacity defines a quality of persistence and extraordinary determination to finish what we have started. The definition does not account for persistence and determination under extraordinary circumstance, rather, it leads the reader to infer typical disruptive circumstances. Her circumstances, however, were far from typical. Her circumstances required her to call upon a great deal of tenacity to complete her objective. Her circumstances required her vision to be so compelling that nothing would get in the way of accomplishment. Her circumstances had given her plenty of reasons to lay aside her dream of earning a college degree when she received a cancer diagnosis half-way through the degree program. It was a devastating blow to the momentum she had created, earning an incredible 4.0 grade point average to that point in her journey.

We all watched as she absorbed the cancer diagnosis, wondering how she would allow the circumstance to change her. It didn't. After absorbing the news, she quickly got back to work, seeking treatment while continuing her education, refusing to allow circumstance to steal her dream. To add literal insult to injury, about a year after her diagnosis, her husband was brutally attacked and hospitalized, putting him out of work for an extended—and very unexpected—period of time. The sole source of income now disrupted, she took it upon herself to find ways to make it through until his recovery. Friends and family rallied, all the while, watching and wondering how she would handle the next circumstance.

Without so much as a pause or second thought, she would return to her studies each and every time. Why would someone do that? I smile as I write this because, even as I watched my daughter struggle through the decisions she had to make for her life, I knew exactly why she reacted the way she did. I smile because it is a rare moment when we are aware enough to witness change taking place in our children as it actually happens. Her refusal to allow circumstance to define her had reached a point of indignant intolerance. In other words, she was finished allowing circumstance to define her and had made a conscious decision to dig in deep, even in the midst of adversity, drama, and distraction.

We can learn a lot from the actions of people like my daughter. The circumstances I highlighted are but a few of the major ones she dealt with while in pursuit of a dream. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how she managed all of these circumstances while raising three children, one of whom is mildly autistic. Superwoman? No. Driven? Absolutely! Hers is an example we can all take a lesson from when we are faced with inevitable obstacles that come along and test just how much we desire to reach a goal.

There are a lot of people who are quick to declare what it is they want out of life—we all know them—but far too few who take persistent and calculated action to accomplishment. The realization of our dreams lie just outside the border of our grasp. But there's a formula to realizing our dreams, and unless we follow the formula, we can dream all we want and never taste the sweetness of victory and achievement.

The Formula: The 3Ds

Dreams, Decisions, and Determination

• Your Dreams define your vision, goal, or objective. Your roadmap for success is driven by your Dream.

• Your Decisions are a catalyst in defining how you re-construct your lifestyle to meet the course you should be on while in pursuit of your objective. Make no mistake; a lifestyle adjustment will be in order as you allow your dreams to take over and drive the tempo of your desired life.

• Your Determination is the one factor that will make or break your ability to dig in when you feel like quitting. Determination defines those who do among those who don't, or those who won't. Determination defines an attitude you adopt when you refuse to allow anything to get in the way of your dream.

The formula, on its surface, seems simple. But don't let it fool you. If it was easy, everyone would be successful. No, success is hard. It will call upon you to change your lifestyle, re-prioritize what is important in your life, re-define relationships, and form new rituals and habits. But...it is all worth it, as my daughter will attest.

What are you in pursuit of? Have you declared your vision, dream, or goal and followed it with action? Are your decisions supporting your dreams? How are you handling the obstacles and distractions? Are you determined to cross the finish line, no matter what? Follow a good example. Learn from my daughter's story or anyone whom you can look to for inspiration. And know, with a doubt, that you too can achieve your dreams.

Finish Strong!

Until next time...

-G-


"Imagine with all of your mind. Believe with all of your heart. Achieve with all of your might."
                                                                                  
~ Unknown


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