There is one thing that can make or break your journey to success.

As Samuel Johnson said: "Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance."

Perseverance is the key to reaching your goal.

Be honest: how many times have you given up in the past? Once? Ten times? Dozens of times? You are not alone! Each of us has at some time ended up feeling like we were fighting a losing battle and thrown down our sword.

As you well know, giving up means admitting defeat. It means failure. No one likes to think about that, but it's true.

Have you ever asked yourself what might have happened if you'd continued on instead of quitting? Would you have been successful eventually? Did you give up too soon, or was your goal really not meant to happen?

Imagine running a marathon and getting mad because the finish line still hasn't appeared. So you sit down, take off your running shoes and brood. It sounds funny, but that's what many of us do when pursuing our goals.

And in that little example is a hidden gem of wisdom: we give up because we can't SEE the finish line, so we mistakenly assume it doesn't exist. We throw our hands up in frustration and quit.

If you can change this one tendency, your life will never be the same.

Perseverance literally means: to persist in spite of difficulties.

It doesn't mean persist until you run into an obstacle, or persist until it becomes easier, or persist only when you feel like it. It means keep going no matter what. No matter how rocky the road becomes, you just keep moving forward.

What will determine your willingness to persevere? How badly you want your goal. If you're not willing to persist in spite of difficulties, then perhaps your goal isn't as important as you think it is. Perhaps it's not what you really want, after all. Only you know for sure.

If your goal is vitally important to you, you will do what it takes to achieve it no matter what obstacles you may encounter.

Make the choice to succeed, moment by moment.

When it comes right down to it, success is a choice, just like failure. It's not a choice you make just one time either; it's a constant, ongoing series of choices you will continue to make for the rest of your life.

The results you get will be in direct proportion to the effort you give. Your journey won't always be easy, but will it be worthwhile? Only you know for sure.