In 1947, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a professor at the University of Chicago, was scheduled to teach an advanced seminar in astrophysics. At the time he was living in Wisconsin, doing research at the Yerkes Astronomical Observatory. He planned to commute twice a week for the class, even though it would be held during the harsh winter months.

When only two students signed up for the class, Dr. Chandrasekhar was expected to cancel the session. But for just two students, he kept the commitment, commuting the 100-mile round trip through back country roads in the dead of winter. His students, Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee, did their homework. Ten years later, they both won the Nobel Prize in physics. Dr. Chandrasekhar won the same prize in 1983. The professor demonstrated the increasingly rare and remarkable virtue of faithfulness: He could be counted on.

Professionals such as Dr. Chandrasekhar who make great contributions, rise to the top of their field and enjoy success and fame aren't simply gifted or lucky. Instead, they intuitively tap into their achievement zone. Reaching into their personalities, they harness and effectively use qualities common to all of us. One of those is faithfulness to a commitment. Here are five other ways to bring out the best in yourself.

Although many jobs aren't glamorous or don't pay well, you can add dignity and meaning to them by applying the three "D's": diligence, dependability and discipline. Martin Luther King Jr., said: "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say: 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.' "

In 1995, Ruth Simmons became president of Smith College, a highly regarded institution of higher learning for women in Northampton, Mass. It was an incredible achievement for a woman who is the great-great-granddaughter of slaves. Dr. Simmons began her journey to Smith in Grapeland, Texas, where her parents were sharecroppers on a cotton farm.

The family later moved to an impoverished section of Houston, and her father found work in a factory while her mother scrubbed floors for white families. When asked how someone with such humble beginnings could rise to the top of academia, Dr. Simmons says: "I had a remarkable mother. She would sometimes take me with her to work when I was a little girl, and the thing I remember vividly is how good she was at what she did. She was very demanding in terms of her own work. 'Do it well, do it thoroughly, whatever you do,' she'd say."

Even as president of Smith College, Dr. Simmons is still influenced by her mother. "I know the Smith Board of Trustees thinks I'm trying to live up to the standards they set for me, and that's okay," she says. But, Dr. Simmons has a higher standard: "Every day that I'm here I try to be the kind of person my mother wanted me to be."

Whether in business or in life, persistence is the force leading to survival and success. Too many people are guilty of premature defeat. When they experience a setback or an emotional blow, they give up on themselves. Rather than remain faithful to their dreams and aspirations, they resign themselves to fate. They focus bitterly on what was lost, instead of looking at what remains. In so doing, they often become cynical and leave latent talents undeveloped. However, victory and satisfaction belong to those who don't choose the path of least resistance when faced with major life challenges.

Consider the glowing example of Sarah Reinertsen who was born in 1975 with only part of her left leg, which had to be removed to the hip when she was seven. In spite of being an amputee, Ms. Reinertsen was determined to pursue her interest in athletics.

When she was 12, she began spending hours working with a track-and-field coach. Together they developed a new way for an amputee to run. Until then, most above-the-knee amputee runners ran by hopping twice on their good leg, then kicking their artificial leg forward. Ms. Reinertsen worked on a new step-over-step method, taking one step with each leg, the way people with two legs run. This allows above-the-knee amputees to run much faster.

Ms. Reinertsen was the first amputee to use this method in competition and today is the fastest female above-the-knee-amputee runner in the world. Because she was faithful to herself, she holds world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter runs.

This practice is strongly recommended by Tom Peters, one of the country's best-known management consultants. Reaching out to individuals facing personal or professional problems greatly improves your own chances of success, he says.

"Your emotional or professional assistance will not only help him regain balance, but he also will never forget that you were there when he needed you," says Dr. Peters. "When you stand by someone who's down on his luck, you'll gain respect as a leader and become a tower of strength...win the person's friendship, probably for life...and enjoy higher levels of teamwork and respect from your colleagues."

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven," observed John Milton, the 17th-century British writer. How and what we think can shape our destiny.

Consider a Duke University study on the effect of optimism on heart disease survival rates. When 1,719 male and female heart disease patients were asked whether they expected to survive, 14% said they doubted they would recover enough to resume daily routines, according to the study. Checking on these patients a year later, Dr. Daniel Mark found 12% of the pessimists had died, compared to only 5% of those who were optimistic about their outcome.

"When people give up and feel that they aren't going to make it, it's usually a self-fulfilling prophecy," he says.

The lesson: Turn your thinking dial and become more optimistic. That way you use your mind as a lifesaving, creative tool rather than as a self-destructive weapon.

Make the choice to believe in yourself. Choose to be a victor, not a victim; to soar, not sink; to overcome, not be overwhelmed. Repeat the phrase: "If it's going to be, it's up to me!"

People who believe in themselves often can accomplish what appears to be impossible. The story of four U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War illustrates this truth. The soldiers were riding in a jeep through a narrow path in the jungle when enemy fire suddenly erupted all around them. They stopped the jeep and jumped for cover in the jungle. As the bullets whistled overhead, the sergeant explained their three chances for survival.

"The first option is to run back onto the road, jump into the jeep and drive straight on--but we'll be driving right into the enemy fire. Our second choice is to try escaping through the jungle but that can also be extremely dangerous. The third thing we can do is run to the road, each of us pick up a corner of the jeep, turn it around, get in and drive back to safety. That seems like the safest course and I think it's our only chance," he said.

Because jeeps are heavy military vehicles, the sergeant added: "Before we attempt this, I want to make sure each of you believes we can do it." When each soldier assured the sergeant it could be done, he ordered them to scramble back to the jeep. Each man picked up a corner of the vehicle and turned it around. Immediately, they jumped into the jeep and drove off at top speed, back to safety.

That's not the end of the story, though. When the soldiers returned to camp, no one believed they had lifted and turned the jeep. They were challenged to repeat the feat in front of everyone on the parade ground. Bets were placed, and although the soldiers wanted to prove they weren't lying, they couldn't lift the jeep. The difference was the soldiers were no longer in danger. In the jungle, they had to believe in themselves to survive. However, at the base camp, they were out of danger and their strong belief faded.

Lastly, if you take a personal or professional tumble and feel like a failure, bolster your self-esteem with this powerful truth from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

-- Mr. Parachin, an ordained minister, is a freelance writer in Claremont, Calif.