A tall young U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan visited a bazaar in Kabul with one of his friends, an Army Major. They came upon an enterprising camel owner who was offering people an opportunity to photograph his camel. This Afghan entrepreneur had a sign that read: “Picture of camel, $5.00; Picture of you with the camel, $5.00 and picture of you riding camel, $8.00.” This was the posted prices, but everyone knows, the way business gets done in Afghanistan is through bargaining. Posted prices are the starting point or they are the final price for the uninitiated.
The Marine said to the camel owner, “I want three pictures, one of the camel, one of me on the camel and one of the camel, my friend and me — ten dollars.” The camel owner, replied, “Eighteen dollars.” The Marine, replied, “Three pictures, one of the camel, one of me on the camel and one of the camel, my friend and me — ten dollars! To which the camel owner replied, “Fifteen dollars.” Once again the Marine held up his ten dollar bill and repeated his offer, “Three photos — ten dollars.” The camel owner countered with, “Thirteen dollars.”
The camel owner had the camel and wanted the Marine’s money; the Marine had a camera, wanted three pictures and had ten dollars. They were haggling over a gap between selling and buying price. The bridge became the Marines steadfastness. He wanted three pictures and the Arab wanted the ten dollars. For the Marine the ten dollars was small; for the camel owner, the ten dollars was big.
After several more exchanges, the camel owner, realizing that ten dollars was better than nothing, gave in; the Marine got what he wanted and the camel owner wanted what he got.
Sometimes in life, you are the Marine and sometimes you are the camel owner. Sometimes to reach your goal, you need to be steadfast, unchanging, and unmovable. Other times, you need to survey the situation, be flexible and heed the maxim, “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.” Bridging the gap between what must be and what can be, you make your decision based on what is negotiable and what is not. Where do you stand fast and where are you flexible? If you must have three pictures and you only have ten dollars, the choice is easy. If you have a camel and there isn’t a line of people waiting to have their picture taken with your animal, you become more flexible.
If you must have three pictures and only want to spend ten dollars, there are three things you need to clearly understand about steadfastness: Attitude, Belief, and Focus.
Attitude
You must have or develop a “never-quit attitude.” You simply refuse to give up. You have a goal and you are determined to achieve it. Success doesn’t come easily and we must keep on keeping on. We encounter obstacles, discouragements and disappointments, but we prepare for them. Or, if they arise unexpectedly, we have a “fall back” plan. A positive attitude will keep you moving forward. You may not achieve all your goals, but in the end you would agree with William James, “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.”
Believe In Yourself
You must believe in yourself and your strengths. To believe in yourself typically means that you have confidence in your talents and strengths. This confidence comes from high self-esteem. The truth is that only a small percentage of people ever achieve their full potential. We would do well to heed Buckminster Fuller’s revealing insight, “I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.”
Focus
You must stay focused on the task at hand and not get distracted. Distractions—people, projects and emergencies — clamor for your attention. But your “get-it-done” attitude will help keep you focused on what is important and vital to your success as opposed to what is urgent and peripheral. Disappointments and setbacks occur and should be viewed as instruments of learning and not permanent failure. Stay focused and don’t get sidetracked by tasks with fringe benefits.
Three synonyms for “steadfastness” are: perseverance, resoluteness, and determination. Get the picture? I bet ten dollars you do.
HOG THOUGHT: Steadfastness is the stance you take after you have carefully weighed your resources against the target and decide to commit to the attainment of the goal. The people who achieve in this world are the people who land on the beach, burn their boats and march inland to victory.
HOG QUOTE:
“It's not that I'm so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. “ --Albert Einstein
HOG ACTION: Don’t be afraid to stand fast. Often people just need to know that you are truly sincere in your requests or actions. Every time you achieve a goal, you are that much stronger and confident. So, focus all your efforts today toward achieving your key goals. In your steadiness remember the words of Jacob A. Riis, “Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
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