Finish Strong Like Hakeem Olajuwon
I’m currently trying to tackle Calculus One in the summer term. Summer terms at Brigham Young University are rigorous and require a lot of focus, determination and discipline. The Math 112 Calculus One course requires us to do at least 2 exercises a day. We have class five days a week for two hours each day! We have not only paper homework but the corresonding section’s homework on-line as well for us to do. That makes another two to three hours of homework. I just barely finished posting my homework assignments on my Google Calendar. You can access it at Nathan’s Calendar.
Sometimes I wonder how I can succeed in this calculus course and then I think about how I’ve succeeded in other courses that were demanding. I think a lot of it comes down to being willing to work and not give up. In other words, succeeding in calculus requires one to have continual faith that even though during the moment of doing a question on a homework exercise you might not seem to think what you’re doing is going to really make a difference on the exam or you doubt that you’re going to be able to remember the concepts and formulas you are learning; but despite all of the doubts and fears, you decide to hold on this time and at the end of the term, you will know that it would be worth it and all the hard work and effort that you have put in has paid off.
The successful hotel tycoon Conrad Hilton once said that, “Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” All of us want to succeed in whatever we do. Whether it is Calculus or playing the piano, we must never quit. We must always keep moving by one step at a time. Many of the good things in life are not easy to achieve but if we continue and not give up we can succeed! That is how Mr. Conrad Hilton has done it and that is how many of the world’s most successful people have done it. Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, said the following, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” If we decide today to never give up but instead keep trying we will find that we will reach our goals and accomplish our dreams!
St. Francis of Assisi said the following, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” We all need to start from somewhere. We can start with the basics and allow ourselves to progress toward the possibilities of our endeavors. Soon we will be reaching what was only thought of as dreams. That is the beauty of persevering and not giving up. It propels us to achieve even more success!
As we go through life’s challenges, let us never give up and remember to keep on trying no matter how steep the climb! Remember, “The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it” (Epicurus, Greek philosopher, BC 341-270).