Cons and Incons: A personal dissertation on success and failure

My goal these recent days aside from cutting down on my carbs so as not to outgrow my pants (I can’t afford my favorite brands) has been consistency in my way of life. That is in dealing with circumstances that requires quick or long hours of thinking to come up with a decision---whether it’s what to eat with whom for lunch or what to do after board exam results come first trimester of next year.
For the latter, I’ve been alternating among the following options: applying as nurse volunteer in our provincial hospital for 6 months before trying on tertiary ones in the city, submitting my resume online for the nars sa baryo program of the government incase it gets to have a 3rd phase by the time I receive my license, take up a course on Adobe Photoshop on a TESDA approved school to make myself a bit more marketable, start a business on event planning with a high school friend, enroll in a Literature or Journalism course in my dream school, Harvard (loco) or get married. Gosh. Did I just say that? Well nothing is impossible so they say---not dreams, not bright futures, not even the most nightmarish of events and endings. That is why I seek consistency. We witness many talented people wasting their potentials because of failure to arrive at a decision over what to do with their lives after a no-need-to-decide-for-ourselves-yet phase that we all enjoy once in our young lives. Many College Cum Lau des have not maximized the edge that the title gave them. Many have raved over so many things they want to have and achieve and ended up getting nothing. Many failed in life because of inconsistency. That’s why I’m afraid of that word so much that I can’t sleep just thinking it to be the cause of my own failure.
For this article, I did a small research on the net about the consequence of inconsistency on people and the values that make people fail. I found out browsing through 66 articles and essays written by random people around the globe that there are many factors that contribute to failure. Some say its lack of emotional intelligence such as being a slave to basic human desires, others say lack of diligence, lack of perseverance, lack of patience, lack of motivation etc. etc.
In a book entitled Psychological Foundations of Success by scientist and Harvard-trained psychologist Stephen Kraus, five biggest factors that determine success were delineated: vision, strategy, belief, persistence and learning.
Vision was discussed as the science of identifying ones passions. Strategy which came after vision was clearly stated to mean turning lofty ambitions into consistent action. Keyword: consistent.
I think belief, persistence and learning should all serve to keep consistency in a person as he works his way towards the fulfillment of his identified passions.
I learned a lot from my readings in the internet although I know that the truth is there was no need to seek a Harvard doctor’s help to instill the importance of consistency of thought and action in achieving goals simply because we as humans who experience constant little and major battles in life, all know this by heart. Only sometimes, it really helps to ask and be reminded of what we shouldn’t but so often forget and what we should be doing but either can’t or won’t because it takes so much effort to defeat the worst in us who wants every reward at an instant.
That’s why I wrote this: because writing aside from speaking is my only way of reminding myself of my mistakes, my shortcomings and what’s important above whims and schemes.
So what have you decided? And what have I? So far, I have only decided on one thing, I will succeed.
It’s time to determine on what considering I already know how.