Strengthen Your Resolve
This trait goes a long way toward shaping your success!

By Jay Winchester

Back in January, people took the beginning of the New Year to make resolutions of all kinds. If you were one of them, how are you holding up? Are you making progress? If you have fallen by the wayside or are struggling, chances are good you relied on discipline to see you through and not resolve.

Resolve is different from discipline. Discipline is defined as “…training to act in accordance with rules; drill; activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training.” Resolve is a “…resolution or determination made, as to follow some course of action; firmness of purpose or intent; determination.” Here is a real-life case study in the difference resolve makes in your attitude and actions…

Rich is a good friend and I frequently do work with his strategic branding company. He is a savvy businessman, a loving husband and father, and a dedicated man of faith. Thirty percent of the work his company does is pro bono work for Christian ministries. Last year, he and his wife Lisa adopted, opening their hearts and their home to a young child in need of stable, committed, loving parents and siblings.

What has always impressed me about Rich is not his discipline, a quality which sees him having a daily quiet time alone in his office, hours before anyone else arrives. It is instead his resolve. He lives by the Bible verse in Philippians 3:14, which reads, “…I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (New Living Translation). Over a year ago, Rich began including the words “press on” at the end of every email. It has become his personal mantra. Recently, though, Rich’s resolve for living this way entered a time of personal trial.

In early March, an examination of a lump on the side of his face revealed that he has Carcinoma Ex Pleomorphic Adenoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. When a medical professional diagnoses you with cancer, your world begins to turn over. If you have something bigger than yourself to hold on to, the turning stops. Rich has that something bigger: his faith.

Whatever personal and business resolutions Rich made for 2010 were radically altered. While this may seem coincidental to you or even tragic, to Rich, it is all part of a plan for his good and his growth. Being who he is, Rich is blogging about this new chapter in his life. He made this entry early on: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was afraid or upset. I am also very excited…we have no clue as to what lies on the other side of this and that is what is exciting…”

Cancer and exciting…two words most of us would not string together. But this is what resolve allows you to do. Once committed to following a certain path, resolve becomes the engine driving you to that destination, regardless of the obstacles that lie ahead. Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Obstacles cannot crush me, every obstacle yields to stern resolve.” It is a good life lesson. Somewhere in the midst of his life-altering event, Rich resolved to give hope and help to others. He is pressing on.

What about you? Are you pressing on, or have you punched out? The goals you resolved to achieve early on are still out there on your horizon, regardless of what has happened between then and now. How do you get there? Do what my friend Rich does: Strengthen your resolve…and press on!