"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
" Calvin Coolidge Once you know what you want, you need to be determined in getting there.
Determination is a key that helps open all your prisons.
As I mentioned, there will be obstacles on the road to freedom.
They might come as a temptation (a big chocolate cake during you weight loss program).
They might come as a great disappointment (having your business plan turned down by a bank).
No matter what you find on your way, you need to keep on going.
You might want to rethink a strategy or choose a different path (not passing in front of the pastry shop on your way to the gym for example).
You have to go on.
It is the most important action that you need to do.
Keep on going.
Endurance is fed by determination.
The more determined you are of getting to your goal, the more will power, endurance and perseverance you will acquire.
You cannot fail if you don't stop.
You cannot lose in any way simply because you cannot lose something you don't have yet.
Determination is what will make you stronger and stronger.
It will help you face any difficulty.
The more problems you solve, the more confidence you will gain; the more determined you will become and the more problems you will solve.
The fifth building I bought needed to have some upgrades and fixing up in order to be rented out.
Since my budget was very tight, I decided very optimistically that I could do the renovations myself.
As I always did in the past, I thought I would camp in one of the units.
I literally camp with nothing else than a sleeping bag and a pillow.
I prefer to sleep on the job sight because the neighborhood is known to be dangerous so I prefer to keep tools and building material under my surveillance.
The second reason is simply a matter of convenience: I can better work longer hours if I don't have to travel to the sight.
I considered myself being very lucky that time to have brought an inflatable mattress as well since the floors were covered with a suspicious looking, smelly and dirty carpet (lots of cats had used parts of the carpets as their litter box in the past).
Upon my arrival, I thoroughly cleaned and painted the bathroom.
I finished pretty late and, when I finally headed for the kitchen to set up my bed (the only room that was carpet free), I realized that my bran new mattress needed to be inflated manually.
It would have probably taken me another couple of hours of pumping but I had no more strength.
All I was left with was an un-inflated mattress, a sleeping bag, a pillow and a million new friends.
I hadn't realized before hand that the carpets were infested with starving fleas.
They had found me to be an acceptable new source of supply.
It was too late to find a hotel (and I was against the principle of paying for a room when I had a couple of thousand square feet of empty space).
I was exhausted yet took a very necessary second shower (the fleas get to your brain as well and you feel itchy just thinking of the little creatures).
I ended up spending the night in the wet cold bathtub.
The next day, I immediately attacked the dirty carpets.
I needed to get rid of them all as the fleas had officially declared war.
Unfortunately, every inch of the carpets was glued with some sort of thick crazy glue.
I tried every possible way around the problem and the only solution was to pull on the carpet, inch by inch, as hard as I could, in a circular motion.
That meant being very close to the carpet, the dirt, the smell and the fleas.
As the sweat was pouring down my face and my arms were being attacked; I thought that that was it.
I contemplated the idea that I would lose my mind.
It is one thing to use your strength beyond natural limits, sweat as if someone was pouring water down your back; and another to have the feeling of hundred of billion black infuriated hungry beasts climbing up your shirt and pants, biting hard every chance they got.
At night, even after I removed the carpets, I could hear them hoping on the new floors I had installed; an incredible amount of little tapping feet that drove me nuts.
The worst is that I would itch all day, either expecting the unpleasant feeling to come or having it already.
After a while, I didn't know if I really itched or if it was caused by psychological trauma.
My legs were bitten to death at night, proof that I was not imagining.
Believe it or not, I won the battle and remained as sane as I was beforehand (I think).
After three days of sustained effort and four more days of cleaning; I got rid of the monsters.
The good news is that I lost five pounds that week.
The bad news is that it was mostly water and I gained them back.
One thing is certain; it is during those four days that I truly understood the meaning of determination.
You will probably get negative answers, you will have moments when you are sure hope is gone, and you will experience disenchantment, just like I but remember to keep on going.
Success is kept for those that deserve it.
And the best way to show that you deserve it is through will power, determination, perseverance and endurance.
In that moment of utter disgust, fatigue and frustration, I remembered a movie I had seen as a kid.
It is called 'For those I loved" and it is the true story of Martin Gray, a Jewish man taken to the concentration camps in the 1940s.
He was bound to die but escaped.
He had to wait in the latrines for a few days until he found a way out.
He had to live through the experience of being defecated upon and crawled his way out of what might be the worst place on Earth.
It was a better place for him than the prison of the concentration camp.
I thought about his courage and it gave me hope.
I repeated that if he could do that, fighting hands on battle with vampire like fleas was a simple game.
In my opinion his story is one that represents the best determination in human survival.
On my hands and knees, with miniature ogres torturing me, broken in half by pain and fatigue; I recalled his image.
Then, as Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind", I lifted up my hand towards the ceiling I would have to paint that same week and played her part.
Then, I convinced my self there was no time for self-pity, complaining or acting and continued ripping the carpet.
Anyway, that was the price of my freedom.
When faced with adversity, think of your own powerful statement, the "no matter what" vow.
Keep it mind and keep it as a joker card when you are faced with a problem.
Problems will come.
I promise you that the solutions are usually not too far behind waiting to appear.
You just need to keep on going.