People who start things are a dime a dozen.  It is very common for us to start and not finish.  People who are finishers are rare.  Determination is the mindset that pushes past boredom, difficulties, and self-doubt to reach completion.  It is not uncommon for those who complete what they start to be poor planners, suffer from moments of missing motivation and direction, but through determination, they do not follow that path; they step outside their normal routines and create a path through the objectives they’ve committed to.  Finishing creates pride in their hard work and successes.  It creates a belief in themselves that fuels future determination.

Starting out small and realistic is the key.  Creating an objective beyond the set timeline can destroy any goal.  We can be ambitious and aggressive, but if it is beyond any reasonable scope of a single person, we are doomed to fail.  This doesn’t mean you shouldn't set aggressive goals; you are the only person who should be determined to push yourself.  Reaching beyond your current circumstances is beneficial and necessary.  Otherwise, you're pushing against your own average self.  A growth mindset pushes, creates, and reviews - pushes, creates, and reviews with a determination to succeed.  Regularly reviewing your progress is necessary to determine your current strengths.  A determined person becomes powerful because they develop a history of done, not just begun.

Every promise you keep to yourself strengthens your character.  Every promise you break weakens it.  Determination is the fuel that turns your promise into continuous action.  Determination is the key to never giving up.  Once you are determined and succeeding, you have proven to yourself how reliable you are.  People can count on you for results.  Being determined means you are someone who will work a task through to completion, no matter how hard or how long it takes.  Determination removes our ‘drive-through mentality’, a behavior that says I am only good if I can quickly order and obtain what I need sitting down, or with very little effort.  My effort is only as good as long as I am sitting and not making an effort to work.  Please don’t inconvenience me to do more than what is asked.  You start to believe your own excuses. You stop trusting your own word when fatigue becomes your inner voice.

Your workout today and commitment to finish to completion are the perfect examples of determination.  You didn’t listen to or act on excuses like "I am tired," "it’s Friday," "I’m sore," or "anything that represents less than your commitment.  You moved and succeeded.

​Determination is personal integrity in motion.  When you prove to yourself that you can be counted on, fear loses its grip and confidence rises naturally.  Determination is one of those traits that will not come naturally.  You were never born with a determined personality.  You have or will see that the work that lies in front of you, as a job that will be completed, the work that so many people avoid because of the difficulties, becomes a task waiting for you to complete, and once you’ve succeeded, you will wear your success like a badge of honor.

Life will hit you.  That’s not a possibility, that’s a guarantee.  Plans fall apart.  Energy drops.  People let you down.  Results don’t come as fast as you want.  This is where most people stop.  Determined people adjust, but they do not stop.  They don’t need everything to go right — they just need a way to keep moving.

​If you’ve ever sparred, you know that the very first punch is a surprise.  A surprise that there was contact, then that someone actually hit us, then maybe that it hurt, but not as much as we thought it would, and finally a welcoming surprise that we took the hit and we are still standing.  Life will always have a punch that is coming our way.  By the third sparring class, we expect to be hit, we stop looking at each contact as how is they are hitting us.  Instead we start to look at what is it I am not doing that allows this person to reach me.  Is my guard down, my left hand dropping, my attention is somewhere else and not on the current situation?  Determination is the refusal to let any moment define the mission we have for ourselves.  You may bend as a way of compromising, but you do not break or fall to the demands of someone else.  You adjust, learn, and continue forward.  Tough days are part of strong lives.  Strong lives consist of hard days.

As a reminder, do you have an objective written out so you can review what matters most to you?  Or do you allow your memory to capture, review, and remind you of what is important?  One gets cloudy and overwhelmed; the other is consistent and always the same, written for you in black and white.  Road maps are fixed, while your memory diverges.  Be determined to succeed by writing down what is important to you during those times when everything forces itself past your guard.

Bad day? Train anyway.  Frustrated? Show up anyway.  Tired? Do what you can anyway.

If you avoid discomfort, you avoid growth.  It’s that simple.

​That burn in your lungs during training, the fatigue in your body, the frustration when something isn’t clicking — that’s not a signal to stop.  That’s the indication that the work you are doing in stretching the successful person inside, and the work is doing its job.

Determined people don’t run from discomfort. They recognize it as proof they’re on the right path.  We don’t need much determination when we are safe, secure, comfortable, when everything is running smoothly and on track.  We need determination when things seem to be going against us, when we see problems without solutions, when we are tired, exhausted, and irritated at the smallest of things, even though we see ourselves as strong-minded, even-tempered, and very calm when challenges arise.  There will always be 2 differing scenarios, where we want to be and where we are.  Determination is about looking to the future and guiding our present discomfort toward a more successful self.  That place in our lives that makes us feel like we are giving, caring, and a strong influencer.

Growth is rarely comfortable.  Muscles burn.  Patience wears thin.  Progress feels slow.  Our determination is our ability to stay in the fire without running for the exit.  Instead of asking, ‘How do I stop this?’ ask, ‘What is this shaping me into?’  Pressure creates strength when you are determined to remain in it long enough.

In life, just like training, pressure reveals who you are.  If you leave every time it gets hard, you train yourself to quit.  If you stay, you train yourself to endure.

Showing up is not basic — it’s rare.

Most people start strong and fade fast.  Determined people are different.  They show up tired, busy, distracted, and even frustrated.  Why?  Because they understand something most people avoid: progress does not care how you feel.  Advancement in who you are, are either fueled by challenges or you let them beat you down.

Determination seems manageable when we have 1 or 2 small, fixable hurdles.  Multiply those small hurdles times a hundred.  Now you will pull on what determination is, in fact, a known result when we have been through the same issues again and again, is that success follows.  This is when you begin to understand what determination can mean.  Small, consistent actions prepare you for greater and more complex challenges.  Showing up and staying consistent proves your reliability to yourself.  Each day you attend, practice, and work, you improve on yourself; you are casting a vote towards the person you are becoming.

Do not diverge if the path seems easier; that usually means the end of the road is too soon and incomplete.  Don’t allow impatience to alter your determination from something that is hard to something that is easy.  If you become tired, confused, anxious, or impatient, stop what you are doing, think of something funny and relaxing, and then return to your path with greater determination and a clearer mindset.  One that is focused on growth, not stagnate or comfortable.

• You don’t need the perfect workout. You need the workout you said you’d do.
• You don’t need the perfect day. You need to show up in the day you have.

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Average people wait for ideal conditions. Determined people create results in imperfect ones.

Everyone’s best days, outlook, and determination are on track when they are inspired.  The real determination shows up when inspiration is gone, when it fades away because our best motivational speaker is quiet.  The choice to continue with determination is a commitment made after the mood has changed.  The moment you start negotiating with yourself, you’ve already lost.  When everything is silent, and our pep squad is no longer chanting our name, when our bodies grow tired and sore, our true identity forms and is revealed.   “I’ll could go later.”  “I’ll might just skip today.”  “I’ll make sure I make it up tomorrow.”

Success belongs to those who move forward without needing perfect conditions.  When you feel like resting, but you know just a little more energy and determination are all you need to see yourself through to the end.

When emotions fluctuate, when obstacles appear, and comfort calls our name as a deterrent, determination is the steady voice that says, "Keep moving.”  Determination shapes who we will become, how it carries us through resistance, and why it is often the single greatest separator between those who wish and those who achieve.

Determined people don’t have these conversations.  The decision was already made.  You said you would train, work, improve — so you do it.  Especially when you don’t feel like it.  Working out is one of the clearest examples.  Your body will resist.  Your mind will offer excuses.  Determination cuts through all of it.

​ You don’t rise to your goals. You fall to your standards.

Determination is not a feeling.  It is not something we wait for, and it is not something we hope shows up when life gets hard.  Determination is a standard we live by.  It is the decision that no matter how we feel, no matter what shows up, no matter what conflict we encounter, we continue to move forward.  Most people tie their actions to their emotions — when they feel good, they act.  When they don’t, they stop.  That is why most people stay stuck.  Over the next six days, we are not chasing motivation — we are building a mindset where action happens regardless.  Determination is not what you do occasionally.  It is who you are.  It is our permanent devotion to our future self.

Day 1: Determination Begins After Motivation Ends
Day 2: Show Up Or Stay Average
Day 3: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Day 4: When Things Go Wrong, You Go Forward
Day 5: You Either Build Trust, Or Break It
Day 6: Finish What You Start
 
Determination is not about being intense for a few days; it is about being consistent for a lifetime.  It is built in quiet decisions — when no one is watching, when you don’t feel like it, when it would be easy to stop.

• It shows up in your workouts.
• It shows up in your discipline.
• It shows up in how you handle life when it pushes back.

Determination becomes your identity when you remove the question of “if” you’ll succeed — and replace it with “when.”

Stay in the push, the fight, the uphill challenge.  Keep moving, because forward is the only direction where you can look back and see where you’ve been. Become the person who does not stop.

Don’t be afraid to make yourself uncomfortable — that’s where your authenticity lives, and that’s why people listen to you and follow you, because you are showing them results, instead of making noise.

The first word of our message is the most important.  Convincing.  We have to know that what is inside of ourselves is more than believing in ourselves—it is proving that belief through commitment, preparation, and consistent action, we are strong and reliable unto ourselves.  It grows when we show up repeatedly, especially when it would be easier not to.  It is strengthened when our actions align with our values and our words match our behavior. 

The success we seek requires something more than a casual confidence.  It requires conviction.  It is far from phrases we might use, such as ‘I might be able to’, ‘I’m not sure if I can’, ‘That’s beyond me’, or ‘That is so above me’.  Conviction means you are fully convinced of the direction you are moving in.  You are not waiting for approval.You are not looking for constant reassurance.  Others can’t give you or build the conviction that is solely yours.  You have made a decision about who you are becoming.  This level of confidence does not mean life will be easy.  Challenges will still appear.  Doubt will still visit from time to time.  But conviction keeps you moving forward anyway. 

The people who achieve extraordinary things are rarely the most talented. They are often the most convinced.  They refuse to quit on the person they are becoming.

The basis for this week's mindfulness lesson is “Do what you say”.  How do you follow through with what you say you will do?  You need to first firmly believe that your word is your bond and that the words you are ministering are the truth.  Truth enough that you support your words with actions.  Live what you say you believe.  At times, the standards we set are higher than our current abilities.  As long as we are forging ahead and fighting to maintain our standards.  Our standards should be such that we are trying to evolve to a better level than our current situation.  ‘Law of the Lid’ says that we create a top level for ourselves.  If we never raise that lid, we outgrow ourselves, and others around us will outgrow us.  Evolving is so important to our personal growth.  Our words and our actions align so that when people view us, they see consistency.  Don’t set standards to belong to a group or to get someone to admire you.  Others can help us to elevate our standards, but we will never live up to them as long as we don’t believe in ourselves.

If we say health matters, we train.  If we say discipline matters, we follow through.  If we say our family matters, we make time for them.  Integrity strengthens confidence by removing internal conflict. We no longer question ourselves when we know we are living according to our values.

Who are the people you admire the most?  Is it the ones that have strong, over-opinionated voices, where everyone knows less than they do?  Is it those people who should be admired because of the way they look and sound?  Is it the people who stand proud, shoulders back, and say very little?  They don’t push their way into every conversation; they don’t look to be the center of attention.  Convincing confidence is not loud, but it does hold a level of strength.  A smile, not a frown, a steady voice, not an arrogant or ego-driven voice.  Arrogance tries to impress others, title-driven egos, while confident people walk their talk and perform as humble leaders should.  People who are secure in themselves do not need to brag about their abilities.  They let their work and actions speak for them.

True confidence respects others, continues to learn, and remains humble when improvement is needed.  Humble people know they have a lot to learn and will never stand on the side of pride and say there is nothing more, I know it all.

​When confidence is built on commitment and discipline, it becomes stable and grounded rather than fragile and defensive.  Watch the face of someone who is prideful. When you challenge their ideas with something stronger, they are immediately defeated.  Then watch someone who is confident and humble; when challenged, they will step back and say something like, ‘That’s a great idea, I never thought about that,’ and still be enthusiastic.