Commitment

History is full of people who were advised to quit just short of a great accomplishment. Experts told Benjamin Franklin to leave alone all that foolish experimenting with lightning, that it was a waste of time. Fortunately, Franklin did not quit. He was committed!

Christopher Columbus had to face an impressive panel of experts, headed by Spain's leading geographer and scholar, who examined his plans and presented their findings to the king and queen of Portugal. They wrote, "Columbus's plan cannot be accomplished. Quite impossible." Christopher Columbus did not quit! He was committed!

Orville and Wilbur Wright were spending time and energy on a contraption that would hopefully fly into the air. Finally, in 1908, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers taxied their crackpot idea down a sandy runway and launched the human race into the air. Orville and Wilbur Wright would not quit. They were committed!

Thomas Edison performed nearly 1000 experiments before discovering the proper material for filament in the lightbulb. Edison would not quit. He was committed!

Actually it was Edison who urged Henry Ford to abandon his work on the fledgling idea of a motor car. "It's a worthless idea," remarked Edison. Ford would not quit. He was committed.

Experts told Madame Curry to forget her experimentation with radium. It was a scientific dead end. But she would not quit. She was committed.

Abraham Lincoln ran for state legislature and failed. He entered business and failed, spending 17 years paying off his debts. He ran for Congress and was defeated. He ran for the United States Senate and lost. He finally became the President of the United States. Lincoln would not quit. He was committed.

The key that unlocks the door to success is the key of commitment. Without that key, the door will never open. No amount of genius, talent, finesse, or "right connections" will bring the fruit of success without a real commitment. Most frustrated quitters never achieve their potential, not because of bad breaks or unusual problems, but because of a failure to commit themselves to their goal regardless of obstacles.

The level of your determination to accomplish your work is measured by what it takes to make you quit. Commitment is what gets you started while others stand, and keeps you going while others quit.