What you can or cannot achieve depends entirely on you and the will, desire and motivation to achieve something begins in your head. Yep, if you think you can do it; if you think you can achieve your goal eve if it seems impossible; and if you think you must not do without something, eventually you will achieve it.
This week’s motivation for me is the following quote by Henry Ford
What You Can Achieve and Whether You Can Do it Depends On You
Henry Ford was born poor. He did not have a silver spoon in his mouth neither did he have any education to support himself but he did have a dream. He wanted to make it big in the world and he was determined he could do it. He did not think he could not achieve his dream and neither did he doubt his capabilities which is why he kept pressing forwards. He had a vision and that helped him find ways that would take him closer to it. He wanted to have his own motor company and so he eventually did and not only just any company but quite a brilliant one- one that garnered brilliant success and made him one of the most influential and richest men in the world.
So Henry Ford knew he could do it and he was so sure that he would achieve all his dreams and so he did. What his story and that of many others especially that of Soichiro Honda (the one I talked about in an earlier post) teach us that it is our determination, our burning desire and our will to achieve what we want is precisely that takes us forward. If you for once doubt yourself or your dream, think you cannot achieve something and give in to your negative thoughts, you will fall short of achieving your dream.
Now that does not mean slipping up is bad or feeling low is not alright. All these things are fine. Naturally, when an obstacle strikes you, you are bound to feel upset but that shouldn’t make you think you are incapable of achieving what you so badly desire. If you nurture a burning desire for something, you will achieve it no matter what.
A great story that supports all that I said is that of Edwin C. Barnes. You may not have heard of him but you definitely would have heard of Thomas Edison. Edwin C. Barnes was one of the biggest business partners of Thomas Edison. When he desired to work with Edison, he was in quite a miserable condition only physically and financially. Emotionally, that man was extremely strong and powerful. He knew he had to work with Thomas Edison and was determined to become his business partner one day and so he embarked on that journey. When he arrived at Edison’s doorstep and Edison opened the door, he wasn’t surprised to see a tramp on his doorstep because many often knocked his door. However, he was surprised when that man said he wanted to work with Edison and wouldn’t leave until Edison agreed to do so. Barnes was so determined to work with him that he said he would do anything Edison asked him to and he did not deny that he aimed to one day become Edison’s business partner.
In his heart Edison may have laughed but he agreed to take Barnes in because he saw such a strong determination in his eyes that he knew this man wouldn’t budge from his stance. For 5 years, Barnes worked under Edison, taking all sorts of orders from him and doing all that Edison asked.
He did not see any opportunity or ray of hope that would comfort him that he would achieve his goal soon but that did not dampen his spirits. He believed in himself and one day that opportunity he was long awaiting did strike him. It came in the shape of an obstacle though. You see, quite often opportunities come disguised as obstacles and it is you who needs to spot them and make good use of them.
Edison had designed his dictating machine which is now known as the Ediphone and wanted to sell it. All the salesmen and business associates who worked for him had no hope the device could sell so they told him it wouldn’t. Barnes saw this as an opportunity to prove his worth and told Edison with complete conviction that he would sell it and so he did. He sold the device and sold millions of it and that was the gateway to his success.
There was no looking back for Barnes because he had just proved he could do whatever he wanted. Since then, Edison and Barnes worked together and Barnes finally achieved his dream. Barnes always had a burning desire in his heart; he was always determined to achieve what he wanted; and he knew he could do it. Had he believed he couldn’t, he wouldn’t have but he chose to think otherwise.
Whatever your goals and aspirations are and whatever it is that you would like to achieve, just believe that you can do it and build a burning desire for it. Just keep the bigger picture in mind and seek delayed gratification to help you stick to what you believe in.