Never Never Give Up

Have you ever reached the point of giving up? Just throwing in the towel. Some of you may be at that point today. It is always darkest before the dawn, and there is hope.

Being an ex athlete, I pay attention to teams today and how easily they give up. We’ve seen it and can sense when it is happening, especially with our teams.We also can see it in business.

I’m a big Blackhawks hockey fan and one of the first Christmas presents I received was a pair of skates. The Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup finals, which is the super bowl of hockey.

Early in the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals the Blackhawks were down 2-0, then 2-1 giving us fans hope. Then Boston went up 3-1 in the last period of the game, the Blackhawks bounced back to tie the game and go into overtime. WOW…even if you are not a hockey fan it was an unbelievable comeback, but it gets better. 1^st Overtime scoreless, both teams tired. 2^nd Overtime scoreless, everyone is exhausted.

Who’s got the will to win and never give up?

3^rd overtime the Blackhawks score and win game 1. It was one of the longest, most memorable and draining matches in Stanley Cup Final history.

They could have just as easily given up when they were behind but they NEVER GAVE UP!

Be The Best At What You Do

In business, the most important long-term vision you can have for your organization is to “be the best.”

Identify a quality of your product or service that is relevant and important to your customers, and then to focus all the energies and creativity of your organization toward achieving superior performance in that area.
Developing the habit of thinking in terms of making your business the very best in your industry is an essential quality of visionary leadership.
Without this commitment to excellence, by default, organizations and individuals slip into mediocre or merely satisfactory performance.
Utilize Social Media Marketing to brand you and your business. Get in the game and stay in the game. Be persistent. Never Give Up!

Dare To Go Forward

The second quality you must develop, the second most common habit of great men, women and leaders at every level, is the habit of courage. Many people have exciting hopes, dreams and visions for the future. But only a few people have the courage to take the risks necessary to turn those visions into realities.

The most important part of courage is the willingness to launch, to take action in the direction of your goals and dreams, with no guarantee of success.
Courage requires that you take risks with time, money, emotion and other resources.
Courage requires that you accept the possibility of losses, setbacks, obstacles, difficulties, and temporary failure.

The rule is that it is impossible to succeed without failing. Failure seems to be an indispensable prerequisite for success. You only learn to succeed by failing, and by then evaluating the reasons for your failure. The faster you fail in a forward direction, the faster you succeed.

Overcoming Your Fears

The way that you develop the habit of courage is by acting courageously whenever courage is called for. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that the most important lesson he learned as a young man was, “In every situation do the thing you fear.”

He concluded, “If you do the thing you fear, the death of fear is certain.

The True Test of the Leader

Peter Drucker says that the only event that is inevitable in the life of the leader is the “unexpected crisis.” It is only when you encounter a setback, an obstacle, a difficulty or the inevitable crisis, that you demonstrate the kind of person you really are. It is not what you say, wish, hope or intend that reveals your character.

It is only your actions, especially your actions in the face of adversity and possible setbacks or losses. The Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus once wrote, “Circumstances do not make the man; they merely reveal him to himself.”

Develop the habit of asking this question, “What one great thing would I dare to dream, if I knew I could not fail?”