"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul" – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author & poet

As the New Year peeks its head just around the corner and people everywhere begin to plan their resolutions for 2015, I thought it would be an appropriate time to consider the importance of ‘resolve’ and share how it has been a cornerstone of our success here at BMMI.

First of all let’s start by defining resolve, which according to the Oxford Dictionary, has both a meaning as a verb and as a noun. As a verb, resolve means to “decide firmly on a course of action”, and as a noun it means “firm determination to do something.” And why is resolve important? Resolve keeps us committed to staying on course in order to reach our desired objectives. It keeps pushing, motivating us to accomplish our goals and also keeps us in action. It gives us aim and determination to reach where we need to reach.

With all the great strides we’ve taken over the years and all the hard work and collective effort we’ve invested into expansions, developing sustainable strategies and planning for an even more rewarding future, I believe that ‘resolve’ is a key contributor in helping us move from ‘good to great’ as a group.

At BMMI, we believe in creating intelligent strategies and in smart planning, but we also believe in taking calculated risks. But for us to have any chance of reaping the potential benefits of a risk, we need to strengthen our resolve and our determination to follow through. There’s no way going around it, we will face challenges and difficulties and will have to make tough decisions along the way. Yet, when we keep moving forward in the direction we determined to go towards, when we face any failures we might encounter and when we resolve to reach our end goal, no matter what, we will eventually reach our destination.

Throughout our history we have truly come so far. It is great to look back at the last year, the last decade or the last century of our operations and see all the accomplishments we have made and the goals we managed to achieve. But sometimes, it’s easy to look at the big picture and the accomplishments and not see, remember or notice all the small steps, the hard work and the resolve that got us there. The big milestones were achieved by the solid determination, the drive and the work of our people to make them happen.

This is especially important to keep in mind in today’s fast paced world, where people can communicate instantaneously, where information is readily available at your fingertips and where we expect fast, quick responses and results. The ‘digital era’ has brought us many important advancements and helped us in numerous ways.

But it’s crucial to keep in mind that big results and major milestones may need a long time to happen. They need persistence, hard work, determination and a solid resolve. Even as we do things faster, communicate more easily and expect things quicker, it is important to remind ourselves that persistence is key and has been behind our success for the past 130 years.

I have spoken before about needing to confront the fear of failure and be prepared for setbacks along the way. There is no courage without fear, so anyone who suggests they have no fear or are not worried of failure or setback are deceiving themselves and others.

This is where resolve kicks in, both at the individual and organisational level as developing a business that has operated in one market for so many decades and making it a mature international business has no quick fix. There are many examples of companies who dominate single markets but fail when they go international.

I often think of what it must have been like back in 1883 when Gray Paul set up business. What difficulties did he face and what resolve was required by many people over many decades to get us to where we are today? I am sure it was immense and we will all need to show that same resolve as we make BMMI a mature and successful international business.

As we sit back and reflect on our business year, I hope you will think of examples where determination, persistence and resolve helped us in our achievements. And as we move forward, I hope these tips I will share with you will help you stay on track and strengthen your resolve, to achieve both professional and personal success. I truly wish you a great new year filled with achievements and the resolve to move forward.