Unless we work on a project with enthusiasm, chances are we will never complete it. Many people I know are quitter. Well, I was once when I was younger but I have learned my lessons. In our work, studies or in anything we do, it is not enough that we have the brains. It is not enough that we have the guts. It is not enough that we are industrious or that we are just happy doing our job. What is important is, we work, we study or do the things we love to do with enthusiasm. Otherwise, we will eventually find no meaning in anything we do until we decide to abandon it or just quit.

For the past few days, I have been thinking of what good article I should add to my website and blog. In fact, I even posted a question over my new twitter account (www.twitter.com/cjalba) because I have a feeling that I should write something that will not only inspire my readers but will help them realize that they should keep going whatever they do in life. It must be something that has its own power to motivate them to continue. When I went back to my twitter account to “tweet”, a few days after I created and posted some updates on it, I realized I only have a few followers, something like 10 or 15 if I can remember it right. Then I went around the twitter community, I checked the people I am following and I felt a little insecure when I learned they have followers ranging from 20K to even 200+K. I never thought that would be possible. How did they do that? Some of them have just started 2 months ago, others have been twitters for more than 2 years like the one with the highest number of followers. I am not sure If I can even reach that number. I’m sorry, it’s just my limiting ego, but I must admit I was amazed by their numbers but at the same time I really felt that fear of uncertainties. It’s important for me to be able to be followed by a significant volume of followers so I can do more business in the internet. It’s in fact, important to all those running an internet business. Traffic is the life of it. That explains my little insecurities. I did some research so I can at least try what they did and most of the answers I got have something to do with their spending thousands of hours working in the internet and strategizing as well. Those who have obtained high numbers of followers are those who have been persevering until now while those who have the lowest and insignificant numbers are those who are, either not so serious doing business in the net or those who they say they don’t have enough time to promote their twitter. The bottom line here is those who got high numbers are those who have and keep their enthusiasm in their heart. Nothing more, nothing less. Enthusiasm is the key to every success of every successful individual. So, I did not have to wait for my (tweet) question to be answered. I have answered my own question, that is, ENTHUSIASM.

I looked at the definition of this word in the dictionary. You know what? After learning about its exact meaning, I realized how powerful this word is. That is why when you have this in your heart and when you continue to cling on this word no matter what, you will be able to complete your race. From the dictionary, it says that:

Enthusiasm (enthousiasmos) originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson’s Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as “a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or communication.” In current English vernacular the word simply means intense enjoyment, interest, or approval.

The most interesting meaning is the one I found in its etymology. It comes from two Greek words, one is “Theos” which means God and the other two is “En-Tae”. From its basic, fundamental and original meaning it means that “God within you”. That is why you feel the joy, the interest or approval, the strength, the perseverance no matter how difficult the challenges we face, if we have it and continue to hold on to it, we succeed. Enthusiasm is the one that holds and keep our faith in our heart. If we will always believe that the reason why we are doing this and that is because God is within us, we will never fail to reach the finish line. In one of the many books of Og Mandino, he interviewed a professor in Notre Dame University by the name of Father John O’brien. He was the one who cited the etymology and said that it literally meant that “God within you… The Divine Being who is the author and source of all goodness and beauty and truth, honesty and love. God is the heart of the individual who is possessed by a vision, who burns with ardour, who is determined to make a dream come true. God is there. God is kindling the fire. It is being kindled by God Himself.”

If we keep our enthusiasm , we keep God in us. If we keep God in us, we keep our heart’s burning desire for our desirable goal. But it is not always that easy to keep God in our heart. It is because of our own bad habits. Bad habits destroy our enthusiasm. Whoever and whatever we may be, whether we are an executive, a doctor, a professor, a guru, an employer, a student, a sales manager, a truck driver, a nurse, a salesman, a clerk, an athlete, a coach, a singer, an actor or actress, the most successful or the famous, millionaire or billionaire, we will have many struggles and battles of importance in influencing others, achieving our desirable goals and getting rid of our undesirable habits.

Undesirable habits are oftentimes those that keep us from continuing. They force us to quit. If we quit on minor task, it may be alright at the time we quit and for a certain period of time, but when this bad habit continues to influence us, the negative effect on the minor tasks that we abandon will definitely pile up and become a major cause of our disaster. And remember, if you can quit on minor tasks, the more are the chances that you can quit on the major tasks. What if it happens to your career, or to your business, to your relationship or to your marriage. These are some of the major functions of your life that you have to maintain and keep on a solid foundation. Or else, you may suffer in the end if you quit on them just because you had no control over your undesirable habits. Let us eliminate our bad or undesirable habits so we can begin to develop our enthusiasm and achieve success. (In one of my coming articles, I will be discussing on how to eliminate bad habits successfully. Meanwhile, just keep in mind that Self-discipline is one and regular meditation is two. If you know how to do this two, you are on the right track.)

To develop and sustain enthusiasm, we must keep our mind on our goal day after day. Focusing on our goal will never scatter our energy. We will always feel that we can because concentrated energy makes us strong spiritually and physically. Keep our goal a desirable one so that we can be more dedicated and enthusiastic. Positive emotions will always follow actions, keep that alive and work on our goal enthusiastically.

Blessed be!