Successful people have an ability to visualize exactly what they want out of life, and then stubbornly hold on to their vision – notwithstanding evidence to the contrary.

One of my favorite stories is that of Derek Jeter. To those of you who don’t know him, Jeter is the shortstop for the New York Yankees, a 10-time All Star and one of the best to ever have played that position.

At age 8 Jeter announced to his family that he would one day play for the Yankees. He decorated his bedroom with Yankees paraphernalia, including a uniform he believed he would wear one day. His days were spent bouncing a ball off his family’s garage door and practicing his swing inside when the weather was bad.

Jeter is obviously a talented athlete but the sense that his success was inevitable is far from accurate.

Jeter spent four years in the minors. His first game(s) was a double-header in which he went 0 for 7, striking out 5 times. He also made a throwing error costing the game. In fact, he did not get a hit his first 14 at bats. He batted .202 that season and made 56 errors at shortstop.

“I hadn’t expected to feel as overwhelmed as I did. I hadn’t imagined that I’d wind up crying in my hotel room night after night because I was playing so poorly.”

Although Jeter had been an all-star in high school, he discovered that everyone in the pros had been an all-star at some level. Soon he started to doubt his ability to play at the professional level.

“I felt like I was overmatched in everything.”

And now for the important part. After his first season Jeter was at a crossroads. A crossroads we all face at some point in our life. A time when reality throws cold water on our vision for the future. Some stay the course, never letting go of the vision. Others don’t.

There are many reasons some people reach their dreams and others do not. Luck is certainly part of the equation. And some amount of natural ability. But after reading hundreds of biographies and spending time with lots of highly successful people, I think the biggest factor is how people deal with the crossroads. That point when reality and dreams begin to diverge.

Thankfully for those of us who are Yankees fans, Jeter stayed the course. The fall after his first year, he worked for five weeks on defense – 8 hours a day, 7 days a week taking ground balls (no batting). Aching every night, he fell back on the words of his parents, “Don’t let anyone work harder than you do!” The rest is history.

Jim Randel is the founder of The Skinny On book series. His next book, The Skinny on Success, will be in stores soon.