Until The Fat Lady Sings
By Steve Hill
Determination is the key to success, at Enigin we teach Partners and Distributors that they need stickability to succeed, stickability is another word for determination.
Some may disagree - luck, skill, planning, team work, the list could go on and on and I have to agree they are all vital but they will all fail in the end, unless you have determination.
It is that term “in the end” that sums it up really - being a football (soccer) fan and even working within the professional football world for over a decade I can tell you that determination is the foundation of so much success.
I have seen fantastic skill, what people would call incredible luck and some amazing team work but it is always the determination that wins out in the long run - a related term “in the long run”.
Yes skill, luck, team work and all the other attributes may win the match (or in business the sale) but to succeed long term (another related term!) determination is a requirement.
I was privileged to be part of a team set up (albeit behind the scenes) of a football team that won two Championships over three seasons - now the team were good but I would say they weren’t the most talented or skillful - but they never gave up.
That often won them a match, I recall one game when they were leading two nil with minutes left, they were playing away from home and suddenly backed by a partisan home crowd the host pulled back two goals in a minute. The 90 minutes of game time seemed to be up, with only the stoppage time left when MY team went down the other end and scored a winner to clinch it 3-2.
You may say, “Well what do you expect?” If you know sports, particularly football, you’ll know that after leading comfortably for most of the match only to be pegged back in the final moments that is it, or often there will be only one winner, the team on the up - unless you are determined to at least try and turn it round rather than let it slip.
Through out the Championship seasons so many matches were one by late goals, by determined uninspiring performances, grinding out results. There were the exciting matches and games, the spectacularly skillful play and performances, but generally it was that determination to come out on top at the “end” of the season through sheer hard work.
In business it is the same “in the end” or “over the long-term” etc. it is not what order or sale you win or lose today it is what you have won over the month, over the year and ultimately over time. If you are determined to keep working you will always be on the right side, sometimes down but the general movement will be up, rather that peaks and troughs the graph will show steady, determined upward progress.
So keep working - there is a saying in English football, “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings”, in other words don’t give up. keep right on till the end.