Determination is the key driving factor behind success. Without determination, one cannot achieve anything that even resembles success.
Current Book & Quotes From: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
"WHERE THE DETERMINATION IS, THE WAY CAN BE FOUND"
Determination in the micro of life might just be to get out of bed or to go to the gym or to write a blog post.
Determination in the macro of life is to have a fire within yourself, a vision of a future that is better than the present. This fire drives you and guides you towards your vision and even upon arrival to that vision, the fire will shift and you will find another vision to move towards. Determination is not just a “feeling”, its a compass, its the means, its the will that is required to succeed at anything in life. Determination is not a trait, it is a requirement.
In the Richest Man in Babylon, we are presented the tale of Dabasir to explain the importance of determination.
Dabasir was trained as a saddle maker by his father in the ancient city of Babylon. He and his wife spent money frivolously and ended up owing a lot of money to a lot of people. Upon realization that he would never be able to pay his debts to his lenders, friends and family, Dabasir left Babylon with nothing while his wife returned to her father.
Dabasir struggled to make money while finding jobs with caravan traders. He eventually fell in with the wrong group of people and ended up robbing other caravan traders, until he was caught by a group of tribesman who then sold him as a slave to a Syrian desert chief.
Dabasir’s owner was about to make him into a Eunuch, when one of the chief’s wives, Sira, spoke up and said:
“Of eunuchs we have plenty, but of camel tenders we have few and they are a worthless lot. Even this day I would visit my mother who is sick with the fever and there is no slave I would trust to lead my camel. Ask this slave if he can lead a camel.”
Dabasir replied, trying to constrain his eagerness:
“I can make them kneel, I can load them, I can lead them on long trips without tiring. If need be, I can repair their trappings.”
The master decided to allow his wife, Sira, to take Dabasir as her camel tender.
While accompanying Sira to her mother, Dabasir explained his life story to her and continued to proclaim that he was not a slave by birth, and was actually a free man. Sira questioned him:
“How can you call yourself a free man when your weakness has brought you to this? If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one no matter what his birth, even as water seeks its level? If a man has within him the soul of a free man, will he not become respected and honored in his own city in spite of his misfortune?”
“ 'Have you a desire to repay the just debts you owe in Babylon?'
" 'Yes, I have the desire, but I see no way'
" If thou contentedly let the years slip by and make no effort to repay, then thou hast but the contemptible soul of a slave. No man is otherwise who cannot respect himself and no man can respect himself who does not repay honest debts.”
“Does not thy great king fight his enemies in every way he can and with every force he has? Thy debts are thy enemies. They ran thee out of Babylon. You left them alone and they grew too strong for thee.”
Dabasir sat with this conversation for days, replaying it in his head, trying to come up with rebuttals to Sira’s assessments of his “freeness”. On their next trip to Sira’s mother, their arrival took a different direction.
Sira asked Dabasir once again:
“ 'Dabasir, hast thou the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?'
" 'The soul of a free man,' I insisted.
" 'Now is thy chance to prove it."
Dabasir asked Sira to come with him, but she would not. He thanked her for what she’s done and then left with 2 camels in hopes to find his way back to Babylon. He journeyed for many days and many nights in the desert. One day, he collapsed to the ground from dehydration and hunger.
Upon waking, Dabasir contemplated life, he wondered if this barren desert was his final resting place. Something sparked in his mind and suddenly, he felt as though he could see the world in a new light:
“All the world seemed to be of a different color as though I had been looking at it through a colored stone which had suddenly been removed. At last I saw the true values in life.
"Die in the desert! Not I! With a new vision, I saw the things that I must do. First I would go back to Babylon and face every man to whom I owed an unpaid debt. I should tell them that after years of wandering and misfortune, I had come back to pay my debts as fast as the gods would permit. Next I should make a home for my wife and become a citizen of whom my parents should be proud.
"My debts were my enemies, but the men I owed were my friends for they had trusted me and believed in me.”
“Within me surged the soul of a free man going back to conquer his enemies and reward his friends. I thrilled with the great resolve.”
“We found the trail to Babylon because the soul of a free man looks at life as a series of problems to be solved and solves them, while the soul of a slave whines, What can I do who am but a slave?”
Dabasir ended up back in Babylon and he revisited his old friends and those he owed debts to. He apologized for all he had done and told them that he would do anything in the world to pay them back for their loans and generosity. One of these men, Mathon, the gold lender, was able to get Dabasir a job working with Nebatur, the camel trader:
“With him, my knowledge of camels I put to good use. Gradually I was able to repay every copper and every piece of silver. Then at last I could hold up my head and feel that I was an honorable man among men.”
And so the tale of Dabasir comes to an end:
"He found his own soul when he realized a great truth, a truth that had been known and used by wise men long before his time.
It has led men of all ages out of difficulties and into success and it will continue to do so for those who have the wisdom to understand its magic power. It is for any man to use who reads these lines.
WHERE THE DETERMINATION IS, THE WAY CAN BE FOUND”
⍞ Quotes from The Richest Man in Babylon ⍞
The Book Club Initiative is a rewards program I recently started to increase the value of these posts about books. This community is all about learning, so in order to learn more from each other, I’m asking a question of the day (QOTD) on every book club post.
Every response that answers the question will get upvoted. Upvote value is based on the quality & thoughtfulness of your answer. Thanks for your participation and I hope you guys enjoy this way of building the community and rewarding learning/thoughtfulness. If you guys have any suggestions for ways to improve this program, please let me know, as I’m always looking for ways to better reward everyone for learning! 🏆
QOTD: What drives you toward your goals? What ignites the fire of your determination?