My 10yr old daughter believes in this more than the majority of people. Never ever ever give up!
When I was younger I used to think that “If you build it, they will come”, taken from the Field of Dreams movie and with a slight paraphrasing as the original quote is “If you build it, he will come.”
I still am a firm believer that you have to take the first step and ‘build’. But, it wasn’t long till I realized that clients or success don’t come just because we’ve built a business or a promising career.
It takes a lot of time to transform your dreams into actions and eventually your success. It takes a lot of time to learn and adjust your actions based on what you’ve learned. And it is even harder to maintain your integrity and honor your values.
As parents, we taught our daughter to guard her values and ideals and stand out from the crowd by not following others just because it’s the norm. We tried to teach her that quality will never be beaten by quantity. But, quality requires time and a lot more effort than quantity. In many cases, quality may even brand you as an outsider. It is this critical moment in your journey that you need to keep going despite what others think.
My daughter understood the importance of self-awareness from a very young age. “Know your strengths and put them forward, know your weaknesses and use them to your benefit” we’ve always told her. Even more, she became an advocate of quality in whatever form or nature – from the food she chooses to consume to the music she selects to listen, despite of the increasing peer pressure.
In our world, we get bombarded with messages, products and social media campaigns, aiming to grab our attention. We are even advised by various experts to not bother so much about quality and produce as much content as possible.
There is no magic wand. Quality means that you never ever ever give up. Give your best to your customers and society and although it may take long, the return on your investment will be enormous.
Never giving up means deciding your destination and evaluating the journey you have to take in order to meet it. No matter how many detours you’ll need to take, the destination will be set.
Never give up on your values. Never give up being honest to yourself and in extension to your clients, friends and community. Never give up trying to reach your destination. And above all, never allow anyone to plant the seeds of self-doubt into your mind. This is your journey. You are completely accountable for where it will lead you.
My wish to you is to never ever ever give up. My wish for our society is to start “savoring” quality more than “gulping down” quantity.