By Mike Myatt, Chief StrategyOfficer, N2growthSince we're about to flip thecalendar to September, and are rapidlyapproaching Q4, I thought I'd provide a bit of motivationto help focus your efforts for the remainderof 2009. While it has likely been a tough year formost of you reading this week's column, I'm not going to patronizeyou by putting my kid gloves on. The text that follows is notlikely to please the politically correct...I'm not going to talkabout competing or playing nicely, rather I'm going to address thetopic of winning...Want to succeed? It's easier than you mightthink...just don't quit. Strip away the excuses, rationalizations,and justifications and the only thing standing between you and theattainment of your objectives, is what you see staring back atyou when you look in the mirror each morning...As I talked about inlast week's column, the economy is only an excuse for those whowon't do what it takes to succeed. I'm a big fan of the "DieHard" movies, and if you're like me, the thing you have toadmire about the main character, detective John McClain (played byBruce Willis), is that regardless of the obstacles he encounters,he just won't quit. Granted, the aforementioned example ofdetermination against all odds comes from a fictional character,but the fact of the matter is that successful people play towin. They don't indulge themselves in half-hearted attemptsdestined for failure, rather they choose to focus all theirefforts and energies on accomplishing their mission. Myfirst football coach used to say: "Don't even bother showingup if you're not going to play to win..." Mind you I tend to be abit competitive, but even so, that phrase has stuck with me myentire life. I don't often bother with taking on an endeavor unlessI plan to accomplish the task at hand, and that means not quittinguntil I meet the objective. It is that "refuse to lose" and "neversay die" attitude that I picked-up on the playing field, and hadfurther reinforced during my time in the military that provides mewith a competitive advantage.I have found that dedication,determination, attention to detail, commitment and focus arethe traits that have been most valuable to me throughout the years,and are therefore the strengths that I tend to play to. The goodnews is this...if you examine the aforementioned traits, you'llquickly see that I possess no special skill and I have nosecret tricks up my sleeve. Rather the things that haveallowed me to serve my clients well, are things that anyone canharness and leverage if they have one thing...the desire to doso.I could certainly paint a more complex picture of what it takesto be successful by citing esoteric managementtheories, but the truth of the matter is that I just don'tquit until I get the job done. I don't spend my time complainingabout the challenges and obstacles, rather I spend my time solvingproblems and creating solutions. If my objective is to get to theother side of the wall, I don't really care if I go over the wall,under the wall, around the wall or through the wall...I just carethat I get to the other side. While I might spend a bit of timeevaluating the most efficient strategy for getting to the otherside of said wall, it will ultimately be my focus onthe tactical execution of conquering the challenge that willdetermine my success. A bias toward action is always a better paththan falling prey to analysis paralysis.I once played an entirehalf of a football game with a broken ankle, early on inmy first entrepreneurial venture I found myself at a criticalnexus and chose to liquidate personal assets to meetpayroll, I've gone as many as 4 days in a row without sleepingto stay the course and solve a critical issue, I've ledteams to achieve things that others said couldn't be accomplished,I've kept my family a priority having raised two wonderful childrenand having been married for 25 years and the list could goon...My point in describing these actions is not to pat myselfon the back for anyone could have done these things, but thereality is that most people don't. They choose to acceptdefeat...they don't play to win...They aren't willing to do what ittakes to be successful...They quit. Quitting is a temptationthat all of us are consistently confronted with. Thereason that so many people become a casualty of giving up, isbecause they can. Put simply, quitting is one of the easiestthings to do in life. If you take your eye off the ball, evenif only momentarily, all it takes for most people to throw inthe towel is a tinge of anger, humiliation, panic,rejection, stress, frustration, hurt, pain, jealousy,sorrow or anguish. Look back on your live, or the lives ofothers, and you'll find numerous instances of people who tookthe easy way out and just quit. You'll also find that it is thosepeople who stayed the course, who overcame the challenges andbarriers, and who stayed the course that have succeeded in life.Mymessage to you for the balance of 2009 is simply this: Play towin...Define your vision, refine your mission, architect yourstrategy, identify your objectives, set your goals, implementyour tactics and initiate your processes. Stay focused and donot quit until you've met your objectives...May your passion becomeyour purpose, and I wish you the best of success as we close out2009.