Creating valued aims and overcoming the forces of opposition that adds to the oppression of any such matters of life as, fulfillment, community, well-being, vitality and the follow-through of valued aims is a great challenge in the world for achievement. In his commencement address at Harvard University, U2's Bono urges the importance of follow through on important matters, "We've got to follow-through on our ideals or betray something at the heart of who we are..." What does it take to uphold and follow through with valued aims beyond the most challenging of opposition? Here's where top strengths need to be activated, the strengths to create powerful results on overcoming adversity, opposition, complacency, and indifference in the world about important matters, such that ANY effort will help to support the follow through of our valued aims. The top strengths to be activated are the qualities of character to be:

• Be decisive, sticking firmly to a valued decision, plan, or opinion without changing or doubting it to the point of undying patience and persistence to uphold, maintain and protect the interests of important matters and valued aims in focus.
• Be passionate and focussed with an idea or feeling that completely occupies the mind to the point of having a passionate unwavering focus or sense of purpose for achievement.
• Be responsible for actions and discernment to the point of owning responsibility of any matters, efforts, actions, decisions, and their effects.

1) Make the decision
2) Create the aims, purpose and focus
3) Take responsibility for action. It's easy peasy!

Make the decision and be tenacious about what's important: With award winning music achievements and international reinforcement of "Make Trade Fair", Coldplay has proven results with their focus on important matters; regarding his focus of importance, Chris Martin declares, "Music is everything." The first effort towards achievement is to make the decision on what is important: Acknowledge and create the need, the will, desire and interest to establish and identify our own and our shared matters of importance and aims of value. As Page & Plant drummer, Michael Lee told me, "Will is a powerful thing." Creating the desire and value begins within the individual. The challenge we face is to have the ability to inspire the value of importance, care, and dedicated effort beyond forces of resistance that push for and reinforce careless indifference, contrary interests, disengagement, or disinterest. The greatest challenge is to overcome the belief that something is not important or necessary, especially when popular resistance becomes a factor. Under such adversity, create it's importance by declaring and believing its importance. Just believe it is. Accept the encouragement from any others about matters of importance using your own strength of discernment. If there's the slightest probability of value, choose to reinforce the strength of value in the matter. As Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant once made a point for me in a conversation on the deep and meaningless, he said, "Everything is meaningful." Thus, making the decision on what's important is the first essential effort in the commitment to a valued aim for which to activate the TOP strengths for achievement.

Establish the sense of purpose for achievement and be completely focused about it. On achieving aims of value, Francis Dunnery encourages, "You get what you focus on." Stick to the purpose unwaveringly and passionately. Be obsessive about the feeling or idea, but NOT with the object of desire. Acknowledge existing conditions that may challenge your focus or sense of purpose for achievement: e.g. disbelief, distractions, conflicts, weaknesses, feelings of unmotivated self-defeated hopelessness, opposing forces, thoughts that aims are unreachable, etc. These are the challenges that tenacity and discernment will help to overcome, i.e. having the undying patience and persistence to focus, uphold, maintain, and protect the interests of the matters in focus while maintaining a keen sense of sensitivity and selective judgement on the course of action. Achievement requires a focus like Oasis' singer, Liam Gallagher, does amidst powerful rocking forces as he stands in stillness with perfect balance with a tambourine steady on his head - a focus of pause and peace in the raucus (rock us!) - an absolutely powerful demonstration of ones ability to overcome the overwhelming rocking forces of the external to bring out perfect peace from the inside.

When an individual or group faces conditions of extreme challenges to be overcome, gaining other shared forces (reinforcements) for support while maintaining self-empowerment and applying skill strengths and actions in their most effective manner is the effort that is needed (i.e. allow a writer to write and a builder to build.) On maintaining self-empowerment, Hot Hot Heat's Steve Bays encourages, "Most important is to stay enthusiastic; working on ways to stay enthusiastic is how I stay empowered." Every supporting person and effort matters. The matter is also in supporting the existence of what is desired to be beyond the opposition of that which does not desire it to be. It's the force of nature, the nature of the state of universal opposites, in which the ability to achieve progress at some level always exists.

Possessively own responsibility for actions and discernment on matters and efforts, such that you will take responsibility and accept accountability for actions and effects of such actions, and allow yourself the authority to make decisions independently. Be self-empowered for motivation, actions, dedicated efforts, and decisions. On the empowerment of dedicated effort, Hot Hot Heat's Dustin Hawthorne confirms, "Knowing I have to work to make something materialize - That empowers me." The strength to achieve is in believing that every effort towards a valued aim has a worthwhile effect, no matter how much opposition, indifference, doubt, or deterrence is set forth to obstruct what is desired from being. Accepting detours and overcoming obstacles on an important matter of effort is still a matter of worthwhile progress towards follow through in one's commitments and valued aims.

With responsibility for matters, where then is the line drawn to decide to stop and let something be when challenges, opposition and resistance are obstructing what is desired? The power of discernment and ability to overcome challenges is an important part of owning responsibility and being accountable for efforts of patience and persistence to uphold, maintain and protect the interests of the matters in focus. Under challenging conditions discernment is necessary, to have good taste and a keen sense of understanding and selective judgement, using expertise, insight, intelligence, sensitivity and perceptive wisdom to refine a decision or course of action. Never stop the effort of a valued aim, but use discernment on chosen actions and methods of achievement, and in clarifying the specifics of the valued aim. Maintain awareness and mindfulness that a valued aim so desires to be, even when the challenges, resistance, and doubt occur. Creating effort and action, and identifying the actions that have the greatest effect and responsiveness is where more focus, activity, and effort will be most successfully directed. Even if only like a tiny sprout from the first roots in the ground, as a sign of life and responsiveness occurs is where life so desires to be, and focus and attention will be most likely to manifest desired results.

With ownership of decisive authority, if you alter your decision based on evolving truths and conditions, you create a change in commitments, and thus the new decision will be the new valued aim for which to activate TOP strengths for achievement.

Be it a cause, a person, relationship, or other planned activity in life and learning, such are the commitments that make all the difference in the world when we are true, uphold, and follow-through with valued aims. As Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Oz guitarist Randy Rhoads proclaimed (as written in a message for my former guitarist), "Never give up." Overcoming the forces of opposition and adversity in upholding commitments and valued aims requires the top strengths of being decisive, passionately focussed, and responsible for actions, efforts, decisions, and effects of such activities. With awareness of the existence of natural forces of opposition, complacency, and indifference in the world, any sign of regard for and attention to important matters is one to be given mutual regard and honor.

Rock for Learning!
Melanie Silos

Learn more about Rock for Learning [HERE]

© 2005 New Moon Publishing & Consulting
All Rights reserved. All photos used by permission. [See details.]

Rock for Learning Featured Artists: