Someone once said, “One day our tombstone will read our date of birth, our date of death and a dash separating the two. What matters most isn’t necessarily the date of birth and the date of death. But it’s the dash. The dash, as unimportant as it seems on the tombstone – is a true reflection of a person’s life”, and he asked “what will your dash say?”

This statement challenged me two years ago when I looked at my life holistically and realised that there were two areas of my life, where I was not fully realizing my potential. So, I decided to change these areas. One area I can say was changed. The other area, well at first it seemed like things were going according to plan, until things took a very unexpected turn. That’s when you realise how people have such an interesting way of handling life’s unexpected twist and turns. Based on some of the conversations I have had with people, I deduce that to some people viewing my life, they see confusion, they see failure, they see difficulty and maybe many other unsaid “sad” things. Yet to others, they see great faith, they see destiny being chased and they are excited to see how this story unfolds. Yet in both these interactions there is always some undertone suggestion that perhaps I was wrong. “I’ve heard people say “maybe you just don’t want to give up on this dream of yours because you have invested so much effort into it, but not necessarily that it is what you should be doing. Perhaps give up on this and consider investing in this other alternative to get where you want to be.”

I’ve tried to defend my cause to a point where I decided to keep quiet. I can never explain why I want “this thing” so much. But of late I know that wisdom called out to me and said Stick-ability. I was reading an interesting book on some simple steps on financial management and one of the things the author touched one was this concept. In financial terms, he referred to Stick-ability as “a necessary quality on the long road to financial success.”

I looked up the concept further and loved the Oxford definition. They said “Stick-ability – a person’s ability to persevere with something; staying power. The secret of success – Stick-ability” (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Contributor for Forbes online magazine, Kevin Harrington, said, “It’s no secret that successful entrepreneurs have something special that sets them apart. Every business venture runs into obstacles, challenges and setbacks. Sometimes they come from the outside world, and sometimes they come from inside the organisation or even ourselves. We all make mistakes from time and time! But the secret ingredient that makes some people succeed when others fail is the ability to keep going even after things go wrong and that quality is referred to as Stick-ability (www.forbes.com).

I don’t know if you still need any further convincing my friend, but maybe you will explore this notion further with me. In my humble opinion, I am tired of this overwhelming need to always have an explanation when things don’t go according to plan. What if the wisdom that life keeps teaching every generation is that the magic is in the madness. What if life is saying over and over, things will look bad before they look great.

I believe everyone one should possess the quality of Stick-ability. We should have the discipline to wait and see things through. If you have committed to a process, just see it through even if things don’t seem to be working out at first. I think ask yourself this question. “Did I make the right decision even though I’m not seeing the intended results?” If you at peace with the answer, then see this thing through and join me in deciding to be a “sticky” person.