The developmental steps of the champion begin with awareness, focus, and then proceed on with commitment and persistence until a specific objective is achieved.  So, now that I have learned the truth of achievement and the absolute necessity of commitment, I declare, “I want to be committed and I need to be committed to my objective”.  What is commitment?  I'll tell you what it is. Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left you.  For most people, commitment is "I'll do what it takes - whatever it takes - for as long as it takes - until (and the list is endless), until it's uncomfortable, until it doesn't fit my picture - until it gets too tough, until I get ridiculed or frustrated, until, until."  The list of “untils” eventually flush the dream.

            You must also be vividly aware that commitment is tied directly to PERSISTENCE, which is the next quality I want to discuss.  If I were to send you out to research one word, and then, tie that word to the lives of the great achievers of history, no matter where they came from, this one word would be PERSISTENCE.  You would get a vivid awareness of the necessity to hang in when your mind tells you not to.  You need to be aware that the mind wants to create an escape hatch from your resolve when the going gets tough.  You do know that don't you?  The mind will talk you into starting, and the mind will talk you into giving up.  But, as we’ve learned SURRENDER INCLUDES the mind keeping it’s commitment.  Not the other way around.  You see, the mind  - must keep your commitment, if you hang tough and you do not allow it any jusifying thoughts or excuses to reverse your commitment. 

            Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality.  It is you keeping your integrity with what it is you said you were going to accomplish.  Why are you going to accomplish it?  For one reason and only one reason - because you said you would.  All other reasons are going to fail you sooner or later.  So become your word.  Do what you speak.  That’s real power.  Commit to it and tie into the power of persistence. Shakespeare said, "Much rain wears the marble."  Og Mandino said, "I shall persist until I succeed."  Listen to that talk.  Where is the escape door in that talk?  "I shall persist until I succeed."  You are left with no way out.  That is the self-talk of a winner, conversely, the self-talk of a loser is, “I will do what it takes as long as it's not too tough”.  As long as the goal looks as though it's within ready grasp and everybody agrees with me, then I’ll stay in the game.  That's the language of everybody who falls short in life.  Perhaps we fail because Nature knows we have power.  And Nature can't tolerate our self-deceptions.  Nature or should I say life, dishes back to us the conditions of our life in direct proportion to how we develop ourselves to compete in the marketplace of life’s countless opportunities.The closer you look at the accomplishments of the champion, you will see a direct   correlation between deserving to win and winning.  Common sense tells us that we must put money in the bank before we can draw money out of the bank.  Doesn’t it make sense to you that one must put forth before one can ask to receive or expect to receive?  Do you live by that philosophy, as opposed to “what's in it for me?”  People with the latter philosophy stopped growing as a person a long time ago and then became a reactor to life instead of a creator of life.  Is that not true for many of us when we tell the truth; until we wake up to reality?  In varying degrees, we are all convicted by that observation.  The art of correction is first acknowledgment, then acceptance of truth, followed by a firm resolve to be committed to paying the dues required to justify success. 

            Persistence is awesome!   It's absolutely awesome!  PERSISTENCE Is what takes an ordinary person of ordinary talent and molds them into a champion. Persistence!  If you hang in long enough you're going to get good at what you need to do.  You know it and I know it.  But if it doesn't flow easy, what’s the temptation?  “Eh - I'm not cut out for this”.  And then we go and repeat the same self-deluding cycle some place else. Have you noticed?  To become a champion, there comes a “ Red Sea ” place where we need to take a stand.  We need to take a stand with ourselves and recognize that we need to ‘hang in’.  We need to do what it is we say we are going to do and recognize clearly that persistence is the wings upon which the glory of victory rides in all areas of life. 

            What else is persistence?  PERSISTENCE is clear dynamic evidence of your faith in yourself and your project.  Persistence is tied directly to Faith.  Remember the power of the mind? The power of the mind was tied directly to Faith; faith in yourself, faith in your objective, and faith in the capabilities that you have.    Persistence is tied to faith, and Faith is evidence that my commitment is unwavering.

            Next, let us discuss the power of Enthusiasm.  To me enthusiasm demonstrates one’s appreciation of being alive and involved.  People show enthusiasm in different ways.  It’s an outward expression of one’s inner vibrations. Be enthusiastic your way.  The clearest evidence of enthusiasm is openness to life's opportunities and challenges.  The enthusiastic person never looks for the hole in the donut. They look for the solutions when problems arrive.  They look for ways they can contribute.    So, be enthusiastic!  Want to know why?  It works!  Studies done on sales groups indicate the reasons people buy their products.  51% of the persuasion to buy was related to the enthusiasm of the sales person.  What is sales, if not transference of a conviction from a seller to a buyer?  Enthusiasm demonstrates “I believe.”  Can you see the connection?  It's hard to be enthusiastic if your belief is not there.  There are going to be times when you will not feel enthusiastic.  We talked about that earlier.  But, what did we learn about emotions?  If I start my endeavor with the intention of being enthusiastic about what I'm doing, very shortly in the action of doing, I begin to experience the emotion that I did not have when I began.  But if I wait for that desired emotion, I may wait a long time before it emerges as a power source for me to move into action.   If I wait, I'm relying on being “fired up” as being necessary for action.  success demands a discipline of action. Folks, listen to me.  Success follows sustained actions performed over time.  You just want to progress a little bit forward each day.  What's the big mystery? Why don't we try it?  Why don't we really finish what we start out to accomplish? Follow these insights.   I can guarantee you this.  Employ them for a year and there is no way that your life will be the same,  Absolutely impossible that it will be the same.  You will have things in your life that you were dreaming about.  You'll have people in your life that you want to be with because you are enthusiastic and committed.  When you go out, don't go and look for the person you want, become the person you want and you will find that person you were looking for was looking for you.  First, you become.  We're back to the mirror.  The only place that one’s life improves is in the mirror, with integrity.  No more excuses.  No more blaming.  No more, somebody else did something to me.  Today is the end of that game. And if you mean it, you will be amazed what is going to happen for you.  You'll write me a letter or you'll see me some other time and say “I couldn't believe there was so much magic in just plane truth and common sense.”    Yes, there is MAGIC in AWARENESS.  Get off everybody else's case including your own and just start to live life each day with direction, intention, and passion. 

            As we come to the end of this article, I couldn't close without talking to you about what I consider to be the greatest power in the universe, love.   We need a whole lot more of it.  Love to me is the healing balm of every injustice and it always works for the good and benefit of humanity.  And it's opposite, Hate, I see as the great destroyer of lives.  Love is boundless.  There is no limit.  Absolutely no upper limit.    You and I can be open to love day in and day out to the degree that we want love if we will give up our judgments and assessments and just be and let be.  Love in your family relationships - powerful stuff.  Love of your neighbor - powerful stuff.  Love of the world you're in - powerful stuff.  So what is life about?  Life is about you, life is about me, and life is about us.  We're not really different. I know how you feel when you feel bad.  I think you know how I feel when I feel bad.  I think I know how you feel when you're not in integrity because I know how I feel when I'm not.  I think I know how you feel when you're happy because I know how I feel when I'm happy.  I think it's great when you can smile because I've been with you, and I think it's great that I can smile because you've been with me.  Whether it's at work, with your neighbors, together with your families, love works.  Go for it!  There is no way the cup of love is ever full.

            So, when are we going to start all this?  When?  Right now!  Time! Time!  I think that time is an invention of the universe so that all events in the universe won't happen simultaneously and we'd be confused. You see, life is the present moment.  End of story.  Let me say it again.  Life is nothing more than the present eternal moment you are in right now, nothing more.  Let me say it again. Your life is a “now” experience.  Nothing more!  Everything else doesn't matter.  And we keep living like tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or when this or that happens, when I can, if I can, as though that will be the right time.  If you are so fortunate to be here tomorrow morning, all you’ve got is one more NOW! PRESENT!  So when is the time to start?  Don't wait until you feel inspired.  You do it now.  I don't care how you feel.  When is the time to reconcile your differences with others?  Now – tonight!  Get it done!  When is the time for you to passionately chase your goals and say that's it; I surrender to what’s required of me.  There is no turning back! I'm in the game for keeps.  You can't knock me out.  You can knock me down, but you can't knock me out, because as long as I can get up one more time, you have not beaten me.  And if you were to conquer me today, you have not beaten me because you cannot beat my spirit.  Now go and live your life.  Would it make a difference?  Yes, it would make a difference.  Do you have the inherent power to change, or will your old attitudes of mind continue to block you from becoming the magnificent creature that you were designed to become?  Re-invent yourself!  Now, go and do the work required and expect to be victorious in the pursuit of your dreams.  Only you can decide if it’s worth the effort.  I can only tell you, from personal experience, that it is.  And, as always in life, the choice is uniquely yours and so will the outcome of that choice be uniquely of your own fashioning.

please broadcast this to your group.. maybe only 1 or 2 people will act on this message but that's all you need  for life altering results! Go for it!

Paul Kenny