There are tough times all around us. Every one of us feels the weight of economic turmoil. These words are solely geared towards encouraging you, as a business owner or leader of an organisation, to never give up. I will share practical tips I’ve gleaned over the years which have helped me and the people around me to never give up.

Let’s start off by prompting ourselves why people, especially business people, give up and close up shop? As complex as a question this may be, they often give up because they become weary. They give up the ghost because that which they are doing simply feels too difficult. We have all been there in one way or another.

There is something very special about people and organisations that have stood the test of time, who have endured through the painful process of never giving up: it is staying power. Staying power is something that can be developed.

In layman’s terms staying power is taking a step back, evaluating your objective and making the necessary course corrections to get you back on track if you ever lose sight of it. Yet staying power without a well thought through objective is merely stubbornness.

This brings me to decision making – decisions are the steps we take towards our objective. If we do not have an objective, decision making becomes haphazard.

Every single action we take and every decision we make ought to be motivated by our desire to improve – ourselves, our circumstances, our families and our communities. That is why making flippant decisions is a dangerous business as invariably they will harm us if not those we cherish.

Staying power, objectives and decision-making are dominated by how we think. Thinking and reflecting are essential disciplines needed for success. When choosing objectives or making decisions I ask myself: “Does this align with my life’s vision and mission? Will this option be good for me?

Now here comes the tricky part. It is easier to see harmful opportunities which are unmistakeably bad for us, yet it is the opportunities that look wonderful, and in fact are wonderful to a certain degree, which are the most dangerous. Why? All wonderful opportunities – to make money, to meet new people, to close new deals – are not necessarily aligned with your objective! If it is not in line with your vision – even though in essence it is good, it may be bad for you, because it does not bring you closer to where you really want to be! These wonderful opportunities could steal your time, energy and money all of which could have been consolidated in reaching your main objective. Your goals may feel farther away than ever.

The world, our nation and our community needs stronger business people – those with staying power, rock solid objectives and the ability to align their decisions with their vision! Once again we need to realise the importance of knowing where we are going and what we are doing. The simpler you keep your objective the easier it will be to align your decision making with it. Your objective should be rock solid.

Lastly, we’re all human and as idealistic it may seem to make a concise and clear decision at every turn, it’s simply not possible that’s why we really ought to celebrate the victories to keep ourselves motivated! As visionaries we seldom seem to realise when we’ve reached a target we’ve set for ourselves as we’ve already readjusted our focus on new horizons. Make time to reflect. Look around and enjoy the fruits of your labour. Remember to remind those around you to do the same as we strive to become a beacon of hope and determination to all.