The ability to persevere is crucial to success in any endeavor. Think of how many things that you wouldn’t have been able to enjoy if you hadn’t persevered through the trials and the tough times. Think about your relationships. How many friends would have given up? What about your significant other? Don’t you have to constantly persist in loving them as best you can? Otherwise your relationship would fall apart, wouldn’t it?
What about your job? Do you have to persist at that, even if it’s just getting up and going to work? Isn’t that a form of persistence? What about your own personal development and education? Did reading come the first time you tried? How about algebra? A foreign language?
No, none of these things came to you the very first time that you tried them. I would even venture to say that none of them were particularly easy? They all required one thing: persistence.
Make it Simple
As I talked about in The Value of Simplicity, you should be able to make your persistent action simple. Let’s take what I’m doing right now, for example. I am sitting in a chair, at a table, writing out my ideas and thoughts on how a person can live life more abundantly. I am writing this in hopes of improving your quality of life. I hope that these words, whenever, however, and wherever they reach you will impact you in some positive way. This is the whole premise of the website that you are currently visiting.
Did you notice anything in particular? My action is simple, and persistent. I chose to write articles (simple persistent action) in hopes of helping other people. I write these articles as much as time will allow with the desire of improving my own quality of life, and yours as well.
To be persistent in any way, simple or not, is extremely valuable. It develops resilience, pride, and a hard working attitude. To be persistent in love is not a simple task when you think about what is all involved in that process. But all of those actions are backed by a simple question, how can I show this person my love for them in the best way possible? You persistently pursue that goal, because the desired outcome is to let that person know that you love them.
This kind of persistence is true in any situation. You want to start a business? Draw up or follow a model that has proven success, set up a set of simple actions to follow, and persistently perform those actions. If I want to make this website into the image of what I have in my head (with thousands of articles and ways to help people live more abundantly) I have to follow the persistent action of building this website and filling it with valuable content.
Make it Right
Persistence is a wonderful trait to develop, and you should develop it as much and as soon as possible. But you must make sure that the thing that you are being persistent at is something that will ultimately achieve your goal. If you want to make more friends, but you persistently avoid contact and interaction with other people, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Don’t be persistent at something that will hurt you. This sounds simple and obvious, but I know of many people (myself included) that struggle with persistent and habitual actions that lead to problems. For some reason, even though we know we are hurting ourselves, we consistently do that particular things anyway. Going out and getting drunk every weekend, or smoking a pack of cigarettes everyday hurts you as a person, and it probably has damaged some of the important relationships in your life.
Right now, think of something that you do that you wish you didn’t, something that is counter-intuitive to the goals that you have for your life or for the immediate goals of the future. Got it? Now, STOP DOING IT! I know that you have heard this before, and so have I. I know that I have gone out and done the exact same thing even though I know that it would hurt me. But, we must stop persistently performing actions that hurt us and those around us. Things that stop us from achieving our goals, and becoming better, more aware, and more abundant people. Think of what you must do to stop yourself from doing whatever it is that you are doing that hurts you, make the steps simple, actionable, and persistently follow those steps!
Do It!
Hopefully you have read the other articles in this series. If you have, it’s time to make a change in your life. Think of one thing that you want to do, not do, change, start, accomplish, perform, initiate, or begin. Okay, now write it down! I am going to use a personal example for you to follow.
“I will make a website that allows people to grow and live more abundantly.”
Now make a list of goals that you have.
- I will help as many people as possible.
- I will make it fun and easy to use.
- I will consistently live out the articles that I write.
Now make a list of steps to accomplish those goals
- I will write articles build webpages that pertain to as many people as possible, and the webpages will be easily accessible.
- I will learn how to make a fun and easy to use website by exploring webpage creation software.
- I will have others keep me accountable for what I write.
Now all I have to do is follow those steps! I have to write articles and build webpages, put them on a website, and follow my own advice.
Your list may be more or less detailed than this, depending on what you are wanting to accomplish, but use this as a guide if it helps you.
Persistence is the key to success. Persistence brought about the invention of the light bulb, the telephone, cars, planes, business, and anything that man wanted to achieve. Persistence brings about love, success, and anything that you apply this principle to. Simply, actionably, and persistently pursue your goals, and you will achieve them!
