“Your training is nothing. Will is everything.” -Ra’s al Ghul
Many people wrongfully believe that hard work and dedication to their craft will make them excellent. This is not as true as they wish, because it is a limiting belief. There is more to success than talent or ability.
Spirit is more than physical strength.
Knowledge without the spirit to apply it is ethereal and unimpactful.
Theory without practice is dangerous to the individual that thinks they will be fine without ever testing it or themselves. Paper black belts, or academics without a connection to the real world that are unable to see the secondary and further consequences of their actions. Book learning or computer simulations often collapse when encountering the real world, because they are missing the most important factor.
Will.
Discipline.
The ability to do what must be done.
The mission needs to be more important than the man, the ego must be subsumed to the obligation. We have a duty to fulfil, and it will require us to go beyond the physical and emotional limits we currently are constrained by.
Hard work is a reflection of the will. When exhausted, with nothing left to give, the will digs into the depths of our being and pulls out the resources to keep going and complete the task. The more often we can go beyond those limits, the greater the limits become and this expansion of self and capabilities is driven by will not skill. In fact, the will is what develops the skill.
Your determination determines your results more than any other factor.