What came first the will or the way?

The Stockdale Paradox is possibly one of the best examples of defying all of the odds I have come across in the last few years. There are millions of examples of defying life's challenges but for me the stockdale paradox is the best way to describe them.



"face the reality of your situation, but at the same time always hold on to the defiant truth that you will prevail" adapted from Jim Collins Good to Great.



The paradox of course is, what if the reality of your situation is death? Paul the Apostle knew that he was going to die, he was beaten, stoned, whipped, bitten by a Snake , shipwrecked and yet he still kept going to Rome, where he was eventually beheaded. He knew all of this would happen and he still kept going! He faced the reality of his situation and was determined to prevail. Paul had a mission and boy did he achieve his mission.



I have followed a blog recently by an acquaintance of mine who is having a life challenge of her own. It seems very clear to me that she has indeed faced the reality of her situation and at the same time is holding onto the belief that she will prevail. However, not unlike Admiral Stockdale, my friends "way" was presented to her where as Paul the Apostle chose the "will" and forged his "way".



Ok lets get back to the point, we need both the will to succeed but we also need to forge a path to success.



Facing the reality of your situation is a lot harder than you may think. It is at this point that many people give up, some people just convince themselves that things will get better. However, they may not get better, in fact there is a really good chance that they will get even worse. These are often realities we do not want to face and so we simply ignore them.



I have, in recent years, stopped challenging myself and have decided that I have to find myself a challenge. I have the will power to prevail and see out my insecurities but often lack the motivation of goal to do so. So, it is now time to set myself some goals, ones I can achieve and succeed at so that I can find what my "way" is and thus gather the will to get there.



I will keep you posted.......