The Magic Of Perseverance
Each person on this planet thrives on success. In doing so, they tend to forget about all the difficulty that littered the path they took to achieve that success. You set targets and the plan is to achieve them. That’s the plan, but we’re humans after all and sometimes we fall short of those goals.
Failure so early on can result in serious frustration. It shatters all of the self-confidence you had when you got started. You might even have considered giving up on those dreams because it’s starting to feel as though you will never succeed.
Here’s the thing. Despite what people say, success is not a straight line nor is it a one-way street. The road is muddled, it features major speed bumps, potholes, dips, and hills. No matter what part of the road you’re on you have to navigate with care.
If you take your eyes off of the road you might lose your way, fall, slip, trip, or veer off on the wrong path. But, if you keep going and you do so with your eyes on the road, then eventually, you will reach your destination.
Have you ever stopped to consider how some of the most prominent people achieved the dizzying heights of success? What was it that set them apart from everyone else in their field? How did they remain positive in the face of failure?
While some successful people might have a secret ingredient, the majority can point to a few key things.
For example, Muhammad Ali famously disliked his training regimen. He hated every single second of it, but he recognized that to quit and walk away would be the wrong choice. Instead, he chose to suffer through training to excel as a champion (ref.). It worked, didn’t it? Muhammad Ali continued to push himself to his limit to prepare for fights because he refused to give up when the going got tough. That is why he is still a legend of boxing.
Another excellent example of success? Steven Spielberg. Today, he is a legend of the game. He gave us E.T., Indiana Jones, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Hook, The Color Purple, and a whole host of incredible films. It wasn’t always like that, though. He was rejected from film school multiple times, but today he has an award’s shelf that features Oscars, Emmys, and his movies have grossed billions.
He could have given up after the first or second rejection, yet he kept pushing and kept going and earned the ultimate revenge.
“When the world says give up, hope whispers try it one more time.” – Unknown
Perseverance Defined
Before we discuss the role of perseverance in personal growth, let’s address the definition of perseverance. Think of it as a sort of steadfastness. An unwavering ability to do something difficult or even to delay something in order to further your chances of achieving success.
It’s an essential factor in whether or not you achieve high levels of success. Perseverance doesn’t require training, there’s no need to attend a class or pursue a college education. Perseverance comes naturally, all you need is a strong will and the want to grow personally.
Perseverance boils down your willingness to persist.
If you desperately want something and you quit before you achieve it, then you will never know what could have been. You will never know whether you were capable of achieving it. All it takes to turn your dreams into a reality is yes. Never give up.
No matter what stands in your way, remaining steadfast and completing the task is what perseverance is. Perseverance requires patience.
The Perks of Perseverance
1| Trust
People who practice perseverance are more trustworthy. When you know someone will never give up, no matter how tough things get, you know they will hold their ground alongside you. Trustworthiness is an important quality that we seek out in people and it’s just one of the major perks of perseverance.
2| Self-Confidence
Perseverance builds self-worth and increases self-confidence. It forces you to take ownership of your goals and accountability to ensure that you achieve them. Perseverance instills you with the firm belief that no matter what happens your destiny lies in your own hands.
You control your fate. While others might judge you by how many times you fail, you should judge you based on how many times you get back up again.
3| Motivation
Perhaps the easiest way to sum perseverance up is by saying it means you are ultra-committed to achieving your goals. It enhances the value of each goal and intensifies your motivation, too. Perseverance can result in wonderful things because it expands your knowledge about your inner-self and helps you get a greater sense of what your goals are and why your goals are.
Success will not happen overnight. You will not wake up rich (unless you’re an avid lottery player), you will not wake up with the job title you want, you won’t hit the winning home run, unless… you persevere to work hard, build the skills, and take action to make it happen for yourself.
If you want to lead a successful life, then now is the time to build your perseverance levels. If you are prepared to persevere for long enough, then you will eventually achieve your goals and reach your true potential.
You literally can do anything that you set your mind to. However, to do so it requires action, persistence, courage, and perseverance.
Developing Perseverance
- The first step to developing perseverance is to get a good grip on what you desire. What is one goal you would really like to achieve?
- From this point, you can create a clear roadmap of how you plan to achieve this goal. It should be broken down into steps so you know exactly what step to take when. This will serve as your roadmap to achieve your desired outcome. Without one, well, you will get lost.
- Before you start the pursuit of your goal, you need to commit to yourself that you will work for it without giving up for x period of time. You can make it as short or as long as you like, but the point is that you select a period of time to work at this goal for and you don’t give up before that time is up. When you have reached your deadline, you can determine whether you should walk away or whether to make some strategic changes to your plan and keep going.
Remember, quitting is fatal, revision is fine. If you quit it will only accentuate or strengthen your inability to see things through. Making changes, tweaking the plan, finding a way to pivot… that’s perseverance and if you should always find a way to see things through.
- It’s always wise to sit down and have a brainstorm in terms of potential obstacles that you may face on your journey. Some people see this as negative thinking, but the reality of the matter is the best way to plan for every eventuality is to consider every eventuality, especially in terms of roadblocks or setbacks. This will be your emergency plan or an alternative strategy.
- Who are your closest friends? Which family members offer you the most support? What mentors or colleagues can you call on? It’s always good to know who is standing by to offer you the moral and mental support you might need as you pursue your goals. Your support network will provide you with the motivation and support you need to keep pushing.
- When you are trying to develop perseverance in your daily life, then self-control is an absolute must. By exercising self-control, you ensure your focus remains on the task at hand. Self-control helps you avoid distractions; it helps you avoid getting side-tracked.
You can exercise self-control by removing all temptations, setting clear goals, having an action plan in place, focusing on your self-discipline, instilling new habits, and having a backup plan.
- Do yourself a favor and set new healthy daily habits and be consistent about practicing them. Small steps forward consistently contribute to regular progress. Your efforts will therefore compound and inevitably, you will succeed.
If there is one thing, I cannot stress enough it’s just how important perseverance is in this life. If you want to achieve any type of success or notable goals, then you have to possess the stamina to go the distance. Perseverance.
- If you lack perseverance then the tips and advice above will help you build perseverance as you embark on your journey of personal growth.
Personal Growth And Perseverance
To achieve personal growth, one must put themselves out there. Risk is necessary to escape the comfort zone and pursue bigger goals. Whether you stick to it or not is down to perseverance. If you don’t persevere to achieve the goals you set out for yourself, then how will you ever develop as a person?
If you can’t enroll in a class to better yourself knowing you will stick to it, then what’s the point? A lot of people are happy to talk about all of the ways in which they are growing personally, but only they know how likely they are to stick to it.
We all have that friend who swears they’re going to learn a new language, teach themselves how to play the ukulele, get abs, or whatever. They talk about it endlessly every time you text, speak, or see each other. They sound super passionate about achieving this goal.
Then, after some time passes, you run into them and they’re onto a new thing without ever having mastered the last thing. So, when they bring up something new people dismiss it out of hand because they know this is just another flavor of the month situation. This person never follows through, which is why no one wants to get involved with their latest endeavor.
If you can’t think of who that friend is, then you might want to consider the fact that you are that friend.
So, what are you going to do about it?
Are you going to twiddle your thumbs in your comfort zone or are you going to get up and put yourself to work chasing your wildest dreams? Are you going to talk about your big plans and then quit halfway through like you always do? What are you waiting for?
Personal growth is waiting for you, and it all begins with a measure of perseverance and a want to succeed. First, you have to figure out what it is you want from this life. Once you do, well, there will be no stopping you!
