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TENACITY: AN ECLECTIC ESSAY
Alex Badion
Class of 2001, Eastern Visayas State University - Tanauan Campus
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education
Every one of us has a goal to achieve, a career to follow and a life to grow. It is a fact that every individual always tries to do
his best to attain his goals in life, to be successful his career and to live life to the fullest. However, it's not easy to do it.
There are obstacles in life to be eradicated. They are the barriers throughout the journey of achieving these desired goals,
these chosen careers and these nurtured lives. They affect too much before we achieve the fruit of success. They make us
frown, they make us disappointed, they make us burned out, they make us cry and much worse is, they make us totally
hopeless. How do we deal with these dilemmas in life to accomplish our goals? How are we going to reach and hit the
target? Perhaps you have asked your many friends, you have consulted many experts and you have taken many actions to
seek advices from the different professionals because you have that burning desire to succeed in life. But sometimes we
forget that the actions to top out our achievement lie in our very own tenacity. And you would even wonder about it – our
very own tenacity? Yes, precisely, it is a character that is often left out in molding our hopes and ambitions, and essentially,
in climbing the ladder of success.
There are many definitions of this word. The very short and simple meaning that truly catches everyone’s mind is
“persistent determination”. Another meaning states that “tenacity is having the quality to be determined to achieve a goal.
People who are tenacious are typically very stubborn about achieving their goal no matter what their limits or what stands
in their way”. Whys are they described as very stubborn? Is it because they are difficult to manage? Certainly and definitely
not! It is because they have the ideal focus to drive their determination to achieve their objectives. And this ideal focus
goes with persistent perseverance that serves a strong and powerful weapon to combat all the negative adversaries in life.
It is truly significant to combine focus and perseverance to fulfill and carry out the vision to succeed. Are the adversaries
helpful to be more persistent to move on? A person needs to strengthen his mind and direct his will to be what he wants to
be, to find what he seeks for and to achieve what he dreams up. The famous Alexander Graham Bell once said “What this
power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which
he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it”. Is this the tenacity that he refers to?
Yes, it is. Tenacity exists and is available to function when we want to achieve something. Just like our full determination
will activate to pursue and follow the dreams. This will not stop until we succeed.
It’s not easy to possess tenacity in life. Likewise, it’s not easy to attain success in life. Determination is there but often
misused. We partly say “I have the determination” but it doesn’t show. Simply, it is because the essence is not used well
according to its desired purpose. The execution is weak. The motivation is lacking. How can you get the success that you
want if you are directed to a wrong practice? Yes, there is the tenacity that you want but you’re not using it well. Like what
Nathaniel Bronner Jr. has uttered, “Success is often not a matter of talent, but a matter of tenacity”. When our
determination is not persistent, we can’t survive until the finish line of our dreams. There would be a particular moment to
hang on and specific reason to stop. We are given talents to use and be enhanced as we live along the shadows of our
dreams. However, the lack of tenacity leads us to be incomplete. And we ask ourselves, “Where did I go wrong? I did my
best but it wasn’t enough. How can I go on to achieve these shattered dreams?”
Now, you tend to go back from the start to visualize and reflect what you’ve done. Where did your tenacity go? We should
not forget the powerful line from a poem of Sri Chinmoy, it is written “No determination of the mind, no transformation of
the life”. He emphasized that our determination starts from the mind. It explains us to think the ways on how to succeed,
on how to transform our life into the realm of accomplishment. How will you transform in order to hit the dimension of
success will depend on how you practice your tenacity. How far will your persistent determination go will depend on how
you carry out the possibilities and opportunities to succeed in life. Let your firmness and persistence serve as the guiding
light to follow the track of success. Let tenacity shines until you touch the rewarding moment of success!
Questions for discussion:
1. What is your idea of tenacity? Give an example to support your answer.
2. Why do we need to possess a persistent determination to succeed in life?
3. How do you nurture the tenacity in your life?
4. What’s your ambition in life? How will you practice tenacity to achieve it?
5. Why do some people give up where in fact they’re near to succeed?