In war there is no substitute for victory. — Douglas Macarthur

My Take – After destroying entire Roman armies during battles at the Trebia, Lake Trasemine, and Cannae, Hannibal looked to have his war with Rome won.  He had destroyed every army his opponent had sent after him, and Rome had lost not only a huge chunk of its forces, but also most of its best troops.  Rome was freeing slaves and emptying temples to arm them in order to keep from being overrun if Hannibal brought his army to town.  By the time that particular story wound its way to the end, his city was in ruins, his people were scattered as slaves, and he was dead.

So what happened?  Hannibal could have pretty much walked to the walls of Rome, demanded surrender, then destroyed the city after a brief, if costly, fight.  Instead, he moved off and started doing other things designed to bring Rome to its knees, but not destroy it.  His definition of victory appears to not to have Rome burnt, but to have it revert to a minor power, which Rome was able to thwart.  Rome, on the other hand, had one goal – survive.  At first, doing that meant not getting into a fight with Hannibal, but eventually it also meant attacking Carthage anywhere Hannibal wasn’t.  Keeping their efforts solely dedicated to those goals brought them to ultimate victory.

No matter how well things are going for you, always keep your ultimate goal in mind.  Nothing but success in achieving that goal matters.  Failing to take the initiative to get it, or letting distractions move you away from the path to success will almost certainly doom your effort.  It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering goal such as a war or a fight.  It could be a goal of losing weight and getting into shape, or paying off your debts and saving money.  No matter what, focus on what you want to accomplish and make no excuses and brook no interference when you are working toward it.