How bad do you want it?

A young man once went to Socrates and asked him how he could gain wisdom. Socrates replied by asking the young man to come with him while they walked together into a nearby lake. When the water got to be about four feet deep, Socrates suddenly grabbed the young man and pushed his head under the water. Then he held it there. The young man thought it was a joke at first and did not resist. But as he was held under the water longer and longer, he became frantic. He struggled desperately to get free as his lungs burned for lack of oxygen. Finally Socrates let him up, coughing and spluttering and gasping for air. Socrates then said, "When you desire wisdom with the same intensity that you desired to breathe, then nothing will stop you from getting it. "

Source: Maximum Achievement, by Brian Tracy

People succeed not so much because they want to, but because they have to. This explains why Vietnam, a small nation, was able to defeat a super power like the United States. Indeed, the Vietnam War was more central to the South Vietnamese people than it was for the Americans.

"Central" in the sense of "essential for survival." This centrality ensured the total commitment of the Viet Cong. In his movie Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola has Colonel Walter E. Kurtz express admiration for the ruthless clarity of mind exuded by the Viet Cong: "If I had ten divisions of those men, the war would be over very quickly."

Given the rising economic power of China and India, it is difficult to see how North American workers can compete UNLESS they develop a stronger commitment toward their job performance and career focus.

This posting is the 75th, and I could go on sharing all the best success secrets in the world until I finally publish this blog in book format. Yet, it won't make a difference unless people decide, once and for all, that success is a must and that failure is not an option.