One Key to Success, Persistence

Last week I wrote a post about being stupid and never giving up. The point was, there is a difference between beating your head against a wall, or window, and fighting for what you truly want. Persistence is a key to success!

Today I pulled a bunch of bushes, hedges, out of my front yard. Most of them were small, but two or three were huge! It was very hot today, around eighty-five and the humidity was high. The way I started to pull them was not the best and I had to revise how I wanted to do it. After a few attempts, I got it right and out they came!

When I was about a third of the way done, I was sweating so hard I could barely see and my head was pounding! I stopped for a while to drink some water and to cool down. I wanted to stop. It was just too hot. I had other things I needed to do. I was filthy!

I didn’t stop. All of the bushes are pulled now. If I had stopped, I would not have been successful. I would have had to pick up the slack some other time, or hire someone to do it for me. Instead, I was persistent and finished it.

In life, we often run up against things that are difficult. Sometimes things don’t seem to be working out they way we planned. We can easily come up with all kinds of reasons why we should quit, or at least take a breather.

The problem is, every time we do that, we tell ourselves that we failed. We might not think those words exactly, but we know, we know we failed to do whatever it was we were going to do. It can be a self perpetuating habit. Not good!

Persistence can be thought of as nothing more than being too stubborn to quit! I was not about to stop doing those bushes until they were all out! I felt great when I was done! The same is true any time you finish a project. Sure it could have been better. Certainly you could have done that one part a little better than you did. That’s how we learn, by doing.

The next time you have some project, no matter what it is, don’t stop until it is finished. If you have to stop to sleep or eat or something, get right back to it as soon as you can. Don’t stop until it is done. Don’t make it perfect, you can revise later. Get it done and feel that great feeling of having succeeded! Persistence is key!