How to Infuse Your Year with Fierce Determination
Updated January 2, 2002
“Fierce determination” is one of my favorite phrases when it comes to goal setting.
If you’ve read any of my writing, you know I always encourage a gentle approach towards oneself.
Many of us are ruled by a strong inner critic. That inner mean girl or guy keeps us in a cycle of self-defeat. When we make mistakes or fall backward for a time, as we all do on our life path, we need gentle encouragement, not a harsh critic.
So, when I used the phrase “fierce determination” I don’t mean a harsh critic, pushing yourself beyond reasonable limits, or over-stressing yourself.
The word “fierce” also means:
“Unrestrained zeal”
“Furiously active or determined”
I too use the phrase fierce determination to refer to an underlying clarity that will keep you motivated and moving forward toward your goal. A clarity that will help you stand strong in the face of obstacles. A clarity that will not give in to the lure of distraction.
How do we access fierce determination?
The Formula for Fierce Determination
Fierce determination comes from knowing:
What’s most important to you
Your deeper why
Those two added together can bring about fierce determination.
Maybe you’ve written down your annual goals. Maybe you haven’t.
In either case, take a few moments to consider, what’s the most important thing you want to accomplish this year? What’s the deeper why behind that desire? Maybe it’s not a practical goal, but a shift in your way of being, which can be equally important.
It’s easy to get lost, over the course of an entire year, in a long list of goals. So, think deeply:
What’s the most important one or ones?
Am I willing to invest my whole being into them?
Which ones will I approach with unshakeable determination?
What is my deeper why for each goal on my list?
Spend some time considering how you can fuel each goal with fierce determination, so it’s not just a need or a want or intention you commit to in a lukewarm way, but something you desire with the fullness of your being.
Your goal could be practical like losing fifty pounds. What would give you the fierce determination to achieve that goal? The answer will be different for each person. It could be the knowledge that excess weight is harmful to your health. Or it might be the image you have of yourself once the weight is off.
Or your goal could be spiritual. For example, I want to embody spirit, to move my spiritual experience from my head to my heart. I fuel that desire with the truth of impermanence—the knowledge that death will inevitably arrive and it could be sooner than I imagine. So, in my mind, there’s no time to waste.
List your goals from most important to least important. Link each goal to a deeper why that will fuel fierce determination. When you think of your goal or the steps to reach your goal, always think of your deeper why too.
Let go of half-hearted goals that you’re likely to drop, probably sooner rather than later. Cross them off your list right now. Don’t dilute your focus or energy by having too many goals or goals that you won’t commit to wholeheartedly.
Fierce Determination: A Natural Thing
Fierce determination is not the same as willpower.
With willpower, there can be sense of force or exertion. The use of willpower can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill. According to my acupuncturist, in Chinese Medicine it’s said the overuse of willpower can deplete your life force energy.
Willpower is important and there’s a lot to know about it. It can be a good partner to fierce determination. The more you learn about willpower, the less it feels like a strenuous feat to utilize it.
But fierce determination really comes from an inner certainty that there’s nothing more important, urgent, or life-defining than this particular goal, wish, or dream. It feels natural and wholehearted and thus doesn’t require force.
Sure, your motivation may wax and wane a bit, but you just need to reconnect with your deeper “why” for a few seconds to re-spark it once again.
Closing Thoughts
As you enter a new year, don’t get lost in a long list of goals. Hone in on your most important goals—the ones that make your heart sing, the ones that command your whole-hearted attention, the ones you’ll commit to with unmovable devotion.
These are the only kinds of goals worth having on your list each year, each month, each week. They’re the only ones you have a chance to truly accomplish. They’re the once that will make you feel the truest to yourself and the most successful.
Determine your deeper why for each one. Whenever you think of your goal or the actions steps related to it, think of your deeper why too. That’s how you’ll infuse your year with fierce determination.
For practical ideas, you might also want to explore:
Your Turn
What are your thoughts about fierce determination? How do you stay motivated to accomplish your most important thing(s)? I would love to hear in the comments.
Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious! Don’t forget to sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self.
You might also like to check out my Living with Ease course or visit my Self-Care Shop. May you be happy, well, and safe – always. With love, Sandra