You can do it.

I don’t know how long it will take or what you will have to go through, but you can most definitely do it.

1. See your objective clearly in your mind. You must see it before you can seize it. It takes courage to focus on your objective.

Reach for the courage that dangles in front of you. Don’t fear that it will prove to be a carrot on a stick and you the unwitting mule.

Courage is necessary to the seizing of your objective.

Reach for your courage. It waits for you.

Grasp your courage. See your objective. Identify your adventure.

2. Name your objective. Saying it out loud moves it from private to public, from thought to action, from fantasy to reality.

When you’ve said it aloud in front of people you care about, you are no longer a spectator. You are a player.

3. Know that you will fail and rejoice when you do.

Education is theoretical. Experience is practical. Battle scars are the marks of a warrior. Happiest are those moments when you rise from the ashes of bitter defeat to try again, smarter, wiser, unstoppable. Everyone is watching you. Smile at them. Show your teeth.

A con man lies to someone who trusts him and walks away with money. A criminal threatens violence and walks away with money. These quick and hollow victories leave both men sadly unsatisfied. Lottery winners are famously miserable. Rich kids are depressingly bored.

Yes, rejoice when you fail because nothing is more tragic than winning quickly.

4. Cherish the caterpillar. Trust in the butterfly you cannot see. An angel is dressed as a beggar. Wisdom wears the hat of a fool. Power hides behind the eyelids of a quiet old woman.

Every miracle wears a disguise.

5. Expect evolution. Your objective will be altered by the passage of time. An infant bears little resemblance to the woman she will become, but she is the same girl, surely.

Fantasy is frozen and changeless in the mind but a worthy objective is durable and alive. Your objective will grow and mature as you do. Don’t be surprised when it changes, because you are changing, too.

You can do this.

I don’t know how long it will take or what you will have to go through, but you can most definitely do this.

Lift your eyes and see the courage that floats in the air before you.

Reach for it.

Hold tight.

Roy H. Williams