The oversimplified answer is that we are a relatively uniform collection of elements bound together in ways that are significant to our functioning as multicellular organisms. And we are here to learn, sustain, and procreate (or repeat).

Remember the periodic table of elements? We are mostly made up of only six of the 100 or so naturally-occurring elements. Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

But there are a number of important trace elements – iron (Fe) is among them. Iron’s trace status betrays its critical role physiologically and psychologically. Iron plays a central part in oxygen transport in our blood. And serving as a metaphor through its properties of strength and durability, especially when alloyed with carbon to make steel, it provides us with a transformational mental model. Having an iron will is a well-known and well-documented expression used to explain an individual’s accomplishing an extraordinary feat.

As someone who has traveled through and resided in a variety of places around the world, I have observed - and have become inspired by - ordinary people doing extraordinary things to achieve personal growth.

There is a characteristic common to them all.

A Ferrous Will