I was at the movie theater recently to see the new movie 300. 300 is about 300 hundred spartan soldiers who held off over 300,000 persian soldiers. Now this is an incredible story about what it takes to be successful. The ability to drive forward against incredible odds. Win or lose. Success or failure. Niether is of any importance. It's about the ability to do it anyway. The desire, the drive, the ability to go after what it is you want regardless of what the odds are. Even in the face of death, all successful people drive forward when the average person would lay down and give up.

There was a part in the movie where the spartans had defeated one of the persian generals. The persian general was explaining to the spartans that the persian army was so big that it shook the ground as it marched, and that when the persian army rained arrows on the spartans heads that they would block out the sun. The spartans response to this, in a very calm and collected voice I might add was, "Then we shall fight in the shade." This is exactly what is necessary for success. The ability to drive forward no matter what the odds are. No matter what obstacles are in the way. No matter what others may say or what might be in front of you.

So many people give up simply because the path looks like it may be a little difficult. So many people give up before the battle even begins. The United States Of America hasn't become the leading world power in less than 200 years by giving up or taking a back seat. No successful person who started from no where became success by luck and chance. They became successful by applying themselves and ignoring the odds. If Thomas Edison would have given up after a few failures, or the first sign of failure, we may not have the light bulb today. Yet he kept going, and after 10,000 failures discovered the modern light bulb.

So go after what it is you want, and prepare to fight in the shade. But whatever it is you decide to do, prepare to fight and not just give up and go home. Nothing worth having comes simply or easy. Some parts of the journey are easier than others, but there is always some struggle to acquire success. Of course, you could just stay like most of the population out there, miserable toward life and the world and never really discover even a moment of having that feeling of "I did it." Or you can do what it takes to go out and create the life you want to have. In the end, the choice is yours.