Why Determination for Success
Is So Important

What is success?

Is it making enough money to fulfill all your desires? Being in a high-powered career where you enjoy your work? Having a loving relationship with your partner?

We all define success in different ways. However, regardless of what success means to you, several factors will influence whether or not you will achieve whatever you decide to attain. This may include your own self-control, inability to choose the right action to achieve your goal, or even just tiring yourself out with way too many goals.

We're going to talk about something that will decide whether or not you'll be able to stay on the road you've chosen to achieve your end goal.

We're going to talk about determination for success and why it is the most important thing for you to cultivate motivation to achieve your goals.

Researchers have various ideas as to what determination is. Some think that determination for success is related to a form of motivation, one that comes from inside you, which is also known as intrinsic motivation. Others think that determination is just a component of a bigger concept called grit. For the purpose of this article, we will talk about determination as a state of mind where an individual strives to achieve a goal by staying on track.

If you are a person with high determination for success, you will be less likely to fail in achieving your goals. Research has also shown that you will be less distracted while pursuing your goals. This doesn't mean you are perfect, however. There's a possibility that you may hang on to a goal that no longer makes sense to pursue.

If you are the opposite, a person with low determination for success, it is likely that you will give up more easily, even if your goals matter a lot to you. Despite the fact that you are technically freeing yourself from the burden of having to achieve something, you will end up less satisfied than your highly determined counterpart.

Now that we've talked about the benefits of determination for success, what determination is, and what determination looks like, let's see what concepts are synonymous or complementary to determination.

Determination and persistence are often conflated with one another. This isn't wrong, since the words themselves are synonymous with each other, as you can see on any thesaurus website. We believe that being determined also means being persistent. Thus, whether you are a persistent or a determined person, as long as you have determination to do something, you will strive to achieve your goals regardless of what obstacles lie ahead.

Determination and perseverance, just like determination and persistence, are two synonymous concepts. Thus, people with high determination or perseverance are likely to be individuals who can deal with setbacks when striving to achieve a goal.

Determination and dedication differ slightly from one another. Dedication is more intertwined with the concept of commitment. Commitment, unlike determination, tends to be made up of multiple components, including an affect-based one. Its success is also determined by the individual's external and internal conditions (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). Determination, alongside persistence and perseverance, focuses more on internal factors.

Determination is important because it determines whether or not you will be successful in attaining a goal. After all, how can you reach what you want if you've already given up halfway? This doesn't mean that determination to succeed is the only factor that decides whether you will be successful in achieving your goals, but it is an important building block.

We've briefly touched upon how determination is sometimes conceptualized as motivation. According to this perspective, which is known as the Self-Determination Theory by Edward L. Deci and Richard Ryan, determination is a mixture of both external and internal motivation, a desire to fulfill a need, and even your own personality (Ryan & Deci, 2000)! In this perspective, the determination to succeed or an individual's sustained effort to achieve a goal will only come about if they have the optimal level of motivation (regardless of type) to fulfill an innate need that they deem important.

With this, we can conclude that there can be no determination to succeed without motivation.

Considering the reasons we discussed on why determination is important, you'll be happy to know that it is not a fixed state — you can always cultivate determination. Here are some of our tips on how to do that:

One of the most highlighted ideas in research about determination is the use of plans. It has been found that the use of certain goal formulation and strategies, such as preparing for what-if scenarios, can increase the likelihood of you achieving your goal. We've talked about why it's important to track your goals and your habits here, so we won't talk about it in this article.

Building a solid strategy can help you cultivate the determination to lose weight, for example, by designing a plan on what kinds of food to eat and the best exercise schedule for you.

Remember, determination and perseverance as well as determination and persistence go hand in hand. To become more determined, you can get better at bouncing back from a setback or failure. After all, things don't always go the way we want them to. That doesn't mean we should stop; it just means we need to take other actions or even better, prepare an alternative for when things go south.

It is inevitable that we make mistakes in life. And sometimes, we can even make mistakes in determining the right actions to take to attain our goals. But just like when it comes to taking the wrong route on Google Maps, all you need to do is take a detour. Eventually, you'll arrive at your destination as long as you are aware of where you went wrong and learn from it.

Although it is important to maintain an awareness of where you are in your goal-striving process, it doesn't mean you need to obsess over every detail that leads to your success or failure. There are numerous aspects that unfortunately won't be in our favor, but we shouldn't fixate on this. Take note of the habits of successful people and learn from them to change your mentality.

It's easy to say "Celebrate your wins!" but it can be quite the challenge to maintain a beaming smile when your co-worker got that promotion that you've been working toward for years. If you're having trouble with this, do not immediately berate yourself as a horrible, no-good person. You're only human, and we are all fallible. However, remember that the achievements of others are a good motivator to work more and become a better version of yourself.

Social comparison is the bane of human existence, yet most of us continue to do this in our daily lives. Although social comparison can affect us negatively and positively, we believe that the one thing it definitely does is distract you (Buunk et al., 1990). So, if you have a goal that is important for you to achieve, work on it, and stop paying attention to what everyone else is doing. Focus on your own path.

Determination can be defined in many ways, but in this article, we recognize the concept as a state of mind where an individual strives to achieve a goal by staying on track. Higher determination will lead to more success in attaining a goal, regardless of what it is. Certain researchers believe that motivation is the underlying structure for determination to flourish — without it, determination cannot manifest.

Determination can also be cultivated. Some ways to do this are preparing a strategy, focusing on yourself, and learning from your mistakes. Remember, determination is the key to success, but what door that key opens is entirely up to you.