A very famous and legendary American Football coach gave this quote which is all about motivation and willpower
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. – Vince Lombardi”
Coach Lombardi noticed throughout his years of coaching football that the champions are not always those who are the biggest and strongest players. It is also seen in the business world that people who are very educated are not always the most successful either. In fact, most successful people in many different fields are not always the most gifted in terms of size or knowledge but what their forte is the will to succeed, which more than makes up for their lack of natural assets
This quote means that to be successful in life, one does not always need to be very strong or very knowledgeable; what is more important to succeed is a person’s grit and determination or his will power to perform a particular task or project.
Will Power is defined as “The strength of will to carry out one’s decisions, wishes, or plans.” It’s the ability to tell yourself that you will complete what you are working on no matter what. It’s the strength to get back up after your ten thousandth failure, adjust your approach and try again.
It’s the willingness to make sure you keep your focus and conserve your momentum and never ever give up. It’s the ability to force yourself to get up early or stay up late to work on it until you get it right. That doesn’t take strength, nor does it take knowledge, although they can help. What it takes is will.
What is this will power?
It’s easy to do something when we enjoy it and is pleasurable for us. That’s what we do easily and as frequently as we can manage. It is what keeps us happy and comfortable. But not everything in life happens according to our comfort levels and what we want. There comes in our lives, many situations and incidents in which we have to keep going no matter what. That is when the power of our will is tested.
When the going gets tough, what do you do? Do you buckle down and redouble your efforts or do you give up? Some of that will depend on how committed you are to the project. But some of the time it also has to do with what your habits are.
Some people have the habit of quitting. As soon as they find a difficult situation which makes it stressful or difficult for them, they quit and prefer to let go of their goal and seek a comfort zone. While many people are quitters, the more successful people in the world are those who are seekers and who are dogged in their determination to finish everything, no matter what, and keep working hard for that goal despite any hardships.
When to hang on and when to let go is a very personal decision and will vary depending on any number of factors. That’s something a person will have to evaluate at each point in their lives when they approach the proverbial fork in the road and need to make a decision.
Some children are born intelligent and without studying very hard for their examinations, are able to perform better than average. While they may succeed, there are also those children who may not be so bright but they possess a deep desire to excel at their studies and work very hard for their examinations. They may spend more hours studying than other students and keep trying till they achieve success. This is an example of showing your will power and your grit determination to succeed.
Some children may be physically strong and therefore will consequently perform better in sports and athletics. However, there have been many examples of sportsmen who are not so skilled or lack the desired strength but are so hardworking and determined that they succeed at their sportsmanship.
One of the best examples from the world of business to demonstrate Coach Lombardi’s quote is Bill Gates. He dropped out of college to eventually start Microsoft. He didn’t possess the most acquired knowledge but had sufficient computer skills and a determined will and foresight to change the tech world. He made up for his lack of business knowledge by recruiting people who had the expertise in other areas needed to build a successful company. The rest as they say is history.
Another great example is that of Terry Fox. Terry Fox was not exactly the most likely person to be a long distance runner after having a leg amputated due to cancer. But because of his incredible will to raise awareness for cancer, his ‘Marathon of Hope’, which was a brave attempt to run across Canada, is now legendary. Terry Fox started his journey from the east coast of Canada but could not make it across Canada. He got as far as northern Ontario when his cancer finally defeated him. However, his inspiration resulted in annual events worldwide that have raised millions of dollars for cancer research ever since.
These examples go to show the very basic essence of the quote. If one has the will to succeed, nothing can stop such a man. He may lack in knowledge or strength but will overcome his hardship by his will power.
How do we develop will power?
Building will power is as simple as making sure you finish. You should start with easy things and try not to let distractions pull you away. You need to remind yourself that you need to finish the task at hand first and only then move on to other goals. While your exams are approaching, you need to remind yourself that you need to probably finish one or maybe two chapters of a particular subject before the end of the day and only then would you watch T.V. Setting up little goals such as these will make you develop your willpower skills to get polished for bigger things in life later on.
Success is not without failure. We all fail from time to time. Things aren’t always going to work out the way we want. We must just learn not to give up. Learn from it, and try to figure out how to keep that distraction away from you, or to better schedule your time, if you know when the distraction will happen.
When looking at your own life and goals, you should not be disheartened if you are lacking in a few qualities such as strength or knowledge. Countless people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Terry Fox have achieved great success, leaving lasting impressions in society despite having some shortcomings. Natural ability (and even acquired knowledge) can only take somebody so far. Without the additional willpower to do whatever it takes to become successful, these assets can’t be utilized to their potential. This is why many gifted or well-educated individuals still fall short of their goals.
You can apply Coach Lombardi’s wisdom by developing the will to work hard and be fully committed towards your goals. This will compensate for any perceived shortcomings that you may have. Strong willpower enables you to endure and persevere the rougher parts of your journey.
The will to succeed can make all the difference. Don’t suffer from a lack of it if you want to achieve success in what you do.
