Success is a Four-Letter Word

By: Kurt Barbour (Retired)

Shared on 5/7/24

I retired in June 2023, and it has been nearly a year since I pinned the badge onto my uniform. There are many things I miss about the job. Among them is being the Commander of one of the largest Negotiation Teams in Illinois. I worked with many professionals on the team who understood teamwork and were leaders themselves.  I have learned many things in my career and have had many mentors.  I still travel the nation imparting my knowledge as an instructor, and I love the interactions I have with some of the finest nationwide.  One of the things that I loved about being a police officer was interacting with like-minded people who have the drive to succeed, especially against the odds.  

During my time as a Commander and as a youth football coach, the one thing I always discouraged the teams from saying was one simple word: “try.”  That three-letter word always signified that you leave room for doubt of success.  Consider when you say, “I will try my best.”  Think about what you mean.    You are saying, “I don’t believe I will succeed.  If I do, then that will be a surprise.”  Success is not only an accomplishment but also a mindset.  If you think about it, you can only appreciate what it means to succeed if you have experienced failure.  By experiencing failure, you must have the drive to succeed.

So, what is that four-letter word for success?  WILL.  Will has many meanings in this context.  First, you must have the will (drive) to succeed.  Secondly, by saying “will” instead of “try,” you commit to success and leave no room for doubt.  Doubt is very serious because it creates a pause in actions and thoughts.  In other words, you must have confidence in yourself.  Confidence is one of the ingredients for success.  You will either succeed, or you will fail.  There is no in-between.  So, why would you leave room for doubt?  There are different degrees of failure.  Some failures can be viewed as a rung in the ladder to success.  A learning experience that makes you appreciate success all that much more.  Other failures are epic (life or death).  For example, in a fight for your life, there is no room for the word “try.”  You must succeed because failure, in this case, is EPIC.

This life lesson has carried over into my retirement.  I decided to attend a post-graduate degree program in Forensic Psychology.  I have used psychology during my entire career as a law enforcement officer and have always wanted to pursue higher degrees.  One class that I dreaded was the required statistics class.  It had been many years since I had had to use advanced math skills, and this class appeared to be intimidating for someone who had never taken a statistics class before.  If I had tried the statistics class, it would have left room for doubt of success.  The doubt will fester and cause you to fail to succeed.  Instead, I went into this with a warrior’s mindset.  I WILL SUCCEED.  The journey was difficult, but the drive to succeed made me find the resources I needed.  I am happy to say I conquered statistics.  This mindset is what drives all who are successful.  Success can be measured in small or large increments.  However, WILL is the beginning of success.  You WILL succeed!

Author Bio

Kurt Barbour retired in June 2023 with over 20 years of law enforcement  experience.  Kurt has been in corrections, patrol, and detectives  (undercover and specialized teams).  Kurt was the Commander of a large  Crisis Negotiations Team.  Kurt is also an instructor who instructs  nationwide Federal, International, State, and Local Law Enforcement  Officers and Military on various law enforcement topics such as  interview and interrogation, detecting deception, tactical de-briefing,  body language, de-escalation techniques, officer safety, narcotics  investigations and a variety of other law enforcement topics through  Homefront Protective Group, the nation’s leading provider in  reality-based training.  Kurt obtained his bachelor’s degree from the  University of Illinois at Springfield and is completing his master’s in forensic psychology at Purdue Global University.