Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You

Tenacious resolve. Boy, it can be annoying. Once or twice a week, I am on a train. When I hop a train to New York City, I find a person or two with this tenacity around seating. These people would sooner cut you than have you sit next to them. They put their briefcase or purse on the seat next to them. Fearful people walk by the open seat for fear of reprisal from the presumed bold person who would dare hold the seat with baggage. I have watched a passenger stand by the seat, look down at the purse, look over at the owner seated next to it (who never looks up, to the right or to the left), and then walk on. Where is the resolve?

For those who’ve traveled with me, you could attest to the fact that I am of the type to board the train, pick up the baggage on the open seat, hand it over to the owner and sit happily for the remainder of the ride. Only once did I have the baggage owner say something to me. I did not look up, to the left or to the right. I consoled myself with the thought of throwing momma from the train (probably the only positive context I can offer from that movie). I exude resolve in that kind of circumstance.

This trait is not found in all people naturally. It is, however, something that can be learned. Tenacity is grown from a response to a core belief. In the previous example, fairness is violated. If fairness or justice or a sense of right and wrong matter to you, that can be built upon to develop tenacity around defending such a position or offering active engagement to its display. It’s a manifestation of your belief system.

Think about your goals for this year. It’s halfway through the year. Do you still believe in them? Take some time to measure where you’ve gotten with them and what’s needed to accomplish these goals. But also, assess the tenacity with which you’ve approached the path towards those goals. Do you fight for them? Is your resolve deep around them?

Goals are important. For as much as they’ve been over-complicated in creation, the point of them remains strong. Goals serve as a beacon. They are to drive the daily strain. They allow for mile-markers of celebration on the path towards them. They are the driving force of an organization. If you don’t know where you want to go, then where are we going?

Being strong in our resolve towards these goals takes an unapologetic position. Unapologetic is not the same as mean. Be tenacious in protecting those goals, even if there is an alteration that has to happen to them. Updating goals based upon new information is healthy. If the new information is that you’re tired or it’s too hard, that is not healthy. Goals should be designed to stretch you. Easy to say, yes, but the point is to work hard to get this challenging objective.

If you want to increase sales by 50%, calls will have to be made, networking will be expanded, pitching product and services will have to increase 100%, etc. All of this takes great effort. If you are not committed to the goal, then tenacity around it won’t develop. Come back to goal creation. Where do you want to get to and why? Answer that clearly and create objectives to get there.

For those who are privileged to lead a team, work with each individual to develop strong resolve around the goals set. Help them to know how to get to where they’d like to be. Avoid the common issue of goals being set to paper, and then little else. You have a great chance to enhance and develop skill sets for your team. And then the celebration around accomplishment is even sweeter when it’s a collaborative effort of support and encouragement.

Fight more for the goals you’ve set. Don’t cower. Stand up and move towards accomplishment of those goals. Remain laser-focused. If someone has put a piece of luggage in your seat, move it. You paid for your ticket. You were up early to get the train. You have a goal to get to the destination ahead. See? Think about goal-pursuit in simpler ways; it will help to foster tenacity. And once you have the resolve behind the goals, watch out world!