"Most people give up just when they're about to acheive success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown." -- H. Ross Perot

When I was in nursing school (in Taiwan), I used to sing in the College of Medicine Chorus. One Spring Break we went on a trip to The Tai Chi Gorge, where we had to hike on slippery wet boulders down to the deep valley by the river, or climb up the rocky hills on roped ladders -- with no harness, mind you. (If my over-protective parents knew this, they would've freaked out!) Every night we were exhausted by the bonfire. And then some guys who also belonged to the Mountaineer Club decided to tell us the horror stories of how another college's Mountaineer Club encountered a major typhoon (hurricaine) while trying to climb one of the toughest mountains in Taiwan, and how most of them died of exposure -- one guy was found only a couple hundred feet from the cabin. The storm must've been too severe for him to see how close he was from safety. It's the kind of story that gives you goose bumps, especially when you are deep in the mountains yourself.

I kept thinking, even now, "If only that guy kept on walking (or crawling) for a little longer, he would've found the cabin and survived." And I can't help but think: "What if that was me? Would I have survived?"

How do you prevent yourself from "quitting on the one yard line"? I think there are some elements you need:

• Be very clear about your vision and goal
• Remind yourself WHY you want to achieve this goal
• Have a step-by-step action plan
• Up your mental toughness
• Record & celebrate your progress
• Get support from others: friends, family, your life coach
• Change your attitude toward frustration, rejection and failures
• Never give up

Labels: attitude, commitment, goal-setting, mental fitness, perseverance, personal development, perspective, success, transforming limiting beliefs, vision