Path to success: Right moves at the right time

In the modern management environment, you are bombarded with concepts and philosophies such as positive thinking, 'if there is a will-there is way', 'effort always wins' and 'if you think you can - you will'.

These are all good things to believe in because they help unleash the power in you. Giving up is an act that often carries negative connotations. Phrases like 'never give up or a quitter never wins' instill negative connotations in us, but the truth is, you can't win every battle or achieve every goal you set in life.

Most successful and powerful people too have failed at times but the successes have taken precedence at the end, hence history doesn't give much prominence to failures. The failures of successful people are underplayed creating an untrue notion.

'Do but don't die' - look for alternatives to succeed

What is critical in life's journey or business is that the moment you have enough grounds to believe that the original goal cannot be achieved due to whatever internal or external reason, you have to make a strategic move, or even take a u-turn to ensure no more money, time and effort is wasted on the goal that is not realistic in the new operating environment.

The pace and nature of change is such, that those who make the right move at the right time have the edge over the others.

Determining the right time to give up can be subjective, since all situations should be considered individually to make a judgment, but learning where your personal boundaries and exit points are, can help save you time, money and energy.

The same is true for businesses too. If your attitude is anything like mine, giving up on a goal or project is extremely difficult.

You have invested a lot of time and money as well, so you're determined to see it through and that's the right way. Failure is an important step to success

While failure is undesired, ironically, failure is an important step to success, so knowing when to give up is important, because it will impact your ultimate success.

In reality not every goal can be achieved no matter what power you have. So it's important to keep assessing the conditions and progress made to decide if the ultimate outcome is success or failure.

How do you know when to 'throw in the towel' (as in the game of boxing) on something that you've been fighting to carry on, despite finding it really tough? In life we have at one point or another experienced disappointment, rejection, frustration and been hurt.

The feeling of defeat is inevitable for every human being no matter what your profile or track record has been.

Same start is not necessarily the same outcome

Why is it that each of us, in our own path in life, probably starting at the same point, with the same desire to achieve success, reach different levels of success at the end of the process?

Regardless of our financial, educational, social status and backgrounds, we have challenges that may lead to disappointment and despair. At the end of the day, it is not what happens that determines the quality of our lives; it is what we choose to achieve.

The idea is to never give up! If we can succeed in mastering our attitude and consistently build our strength of character, the result will change our course of life.

Many times, it is not the external circumstances that determine our success in life, it is the ability to control the process of our thinking. If we are resilient, we can dramatically change our lives for the better.

The question is; are we determined to make that change? The change could be giving up the current goal and embracing a new one with a greater probability of winning.

Giving up to gain more later is the right thing to do - such action is not failure but a change needed to succeed. It is not about giving up hope but giving up specific activities and taking on new ones for faster and more beneficial returns.