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Seven Steps
to Achieving Ambition and Endurance
In order to succeed, it is essential to have tremendous Desire and Ambition. But desire alone is not enough. Ambition needs Endurance to be fulfilled.
Endurance and ambition is a combination of determination and tenacity. It is a balance of patience, persistence and guts. Endurance is also being reliable and accountable, which establishes security and commitment. Without endurance, any good endeavor or intention has no chance of success.
Endurance means to be alive, to be driven by what counts. It is the readiness to fight for what you believe, to go all the way. Without such commitment any undertaking remains flat and empty. It is an energy which comes from within and stops at nothing to achieve its goals. This, of course, requires that endurance be closely examined to ensure that it is used in a healthy and productive manner.
Ask yourself:
- How committed am I to my goals?
- What am I willing to sacrifice for my goals?
- What price am I ready to pay for my beliefs and goals?
- How committed am I to my values?
- How much would I fight for them?
- Am I easily swayed?
- Is there any truth for which I would be ready to give my life?
Effective endurance needs to encompass the following seven ingredients:
- Love
- Discipline
- Compassion
- Endurance
- Humility
- Bonding
- Dignity
The problems people have with endurance and commitment are due to a lack of one or more of these seven components.
Step One -- Love in Endurance
For anything to endure it needs to be loved. A neutral or indifferent attitude will reflect in a marginal commitment. If you have difficulty making commitments, examine how much you love and enjoy the object that requires your commitment. Do I REALLY love singing? Performing? Why do I love it? Do I really love sharing my voice and my musical gifts with the my audience? Do I love my work? Am I enjoying my practice? My family? My choices?
For endurance to be effective it needs to be caring and loving. Endurance without love can be counterproductive. Raw endurance can come across as harsh and aggressive, which undermines the cooperation of others. Out of sheer determination one may often become controlling and demanding, driving others away. For endurance to be successful it needs a loving and caring attitude, it requires patience.
Does my endurance cause me to be, or seem to be, inflexible? Does my drive and determination cause me to be controlling? Am I too demanding? Do others (my employees, friends, children) cooperate with me out of the sheer force of my will and drive, or out of love? Is my endurance unloving? In order to get my way would I allow others to get hurt? Do I believe that the end justifies the means? Would I stop at nothing to achieve my goals? When my endurance prevails and I overcome the obstacles in my way, am I still loving? Even when defending myself and others against unhealthy influences, am I driven by love or hate (see week two, day one)?
Exercise for the day: When fighting for something you believe in, pause a moment to ensure that it is accomplished in a loving manner.
Step Two -- Discipline in Endurance
Examine the discipline of your endurance. Endurance must be directed toward productive goals and expressed in a constructive manner. Is my endurance and determination focused to help cultivate good habits and break bad ones? Or is it the other way around? Do I set up a practice schedule and stick to it? Am I too rigid in my practice concepts? Am I enjoying my practice? Does my endurance come from strength or weakness? Does it come out of deep conviction or out of defensiveness? Am I ever tenacious out of stubbornness and an unwillingness to acknowledge errors? Am I invested in certain decisions and not prepared to review them? Do I use my endurance against itself by being tenacious in my lack of determination?
Exercise for the day: Break one bad habit today.
Step Three -- Compassion in Endurance
Healthy endurance, directed to develop good qualities and modifying bad ones, will always be compassionate. The compassion of endurance reflects a most beautiful quality of endurance: an enduring commitment to help another grow. Endurance without compassion is misguided and selfish. Endurance needs to be not just loving to those who deserve love, but also compassionate to the less fortunate. Do I include myself in this? Am I compassionate to myself when practicing and performing? Or am I too demanding on myself? Does my determination compromise my compassion for others? Am I able to rise above my ego and empathize with my competitors? Am I gracious in victory?
Exercise for the day: Be patient and listen to someone that usually makes you impatient.
Step Four -- Endurance in Endurance
Examine the endurance aspect of endurance, its expression and intensity. Everyone has willpower and determination. We have the capacity to endure much more than we can imagine, and to prevail under the most trying of circumstances.
Ask yourself: Is my behavior erratic? Am I inconsistent and unreliable? Do I sick to my practice schedule? Do I stop practicing when it I get tired and it becomes counter productive? Am I prepared with music, tapes, etc. for my lessons? Since I have will and determination, why am I so mercurial? Am I afraid of accessing my endurance and committing? Do I fear being trapped by my commitment? If yes, why? Is it a reaction to some past trauma? Instead of cultivating endurance in healthy areas, have I developed a capacity for endurance of unhealthy experiences? Do I endure more pain than pleasure? Do I underestimate my capacity to endure?
Exercise for the day: Commit yourself to developing a new good habit.
Step Five -- Yielding in Endurance
Yielding--which is a result of humility - is an essential element of enduring. Standing fast can sometimes be a formula for destruction. The oak, lacking the ability to bent in the hurricane, is uprooted. The reed, which yields to the wind, survives without a problem. Do I know when to yield, out of strength not fear? Why am I often afraid to yield?
Endurance is fueled by inner strength. Hod of netzach is the humble recognition and acknowledgement that the capacity to endure and prevail comes from the soul that G-d gave each person. This humility does not compromise the drive of endurance; on the contrary, it intensifies it, because human endurance can go only so far and endure only so much, whereas endurance that comes from the Divine soul is limitless.
Do I attribute my success solely to my own strength and determination? Am I convinced that I am all powerful due to my level of endurance? Where do I get the strength at times when everything seems so bleak?
Exercise for the day: When you awake, acknowledge G-d for giving you a soul with the extraordinary power and versatility to endure despite trying challenges. This will allow you to draw energy and strength for the entire day.
Step Six -- Bonding in Endurance
Bonding is an essential quality of endurance. It expresses your unwavering commitment to the person or experience you are bonding with, a commitment so powerful that you will endure all to preserve it. Endurance without bonding will not endure.
Exercise for the day: To ensure that your new resolution should endure, bond with it immediately. This can be assured by promptly actualizing your resolution in some constructive deed.
Step Seven -- Sovereignty in Endurance
Sovereignty is the cornerstone of endurance. Endurance that encompasses the previous six qualities is indeed a tribute and testimony to the majesty of the human spirit.
Is my endurance dignified? Does it bring out the best in me? When faced with hardships do I behave like a king or queen, walking proudly with my head up, confident in my G-d-given strengths, or do I cower and shrivel up in fear?
Exercise for the day: Fight for a dignified cause.
Rewritten from Towards a Meaningful Life, Shimon Jacobson
