Envision two scenarios:
The first looks like two years of big struggles and no sign of improvement, followed by four years with lots of work to get average, uncertain outcomes, until eventually breaking through to consistently high quality results over the next two years.
The second assumes quick early success for two years, followed by moderate then sharp drop off in results for three years, and a steady climb back back to early success levels and beyond over the next four years.
Which scenario would you choose? Doesn’t matter, they both represent a direct challenge to your persistence. Either way, you’re going to be tested.
The simple skill of persistence is continuing to put in effort despite doubts, disappointments, and setbacks to achieve an objective that has to be earned, but is never guaranteed.
Even if the paths were guaranteed and the timelines were exactly right, people would still struggle with the persistence to just stay the course and do the work. Let alone the persistence to stay the course and do the work with no guarantee which stage is coming, how long it will last, and if you’ll reach your ultimate objective.
Funny thing about persistence, only those with enough of it and good enough at it will ever find out. Everyone else just tells stories about what might have been.
Self-awareness
Keep it simple: How much doubt does it take to drag you down? How many disappointments does it take to destroy you? How many setbacks does it take to stop you?
Self-discipline
Stay simple: Keep going, keep working, keep advancing, keep refining, keep trying. Make it an intentional choice and a disciplined act. Or stop going, stop working, stop advancing, stop refining, stop trying. And make that an intentional choice and a disciplined act. Choose your side.
Self-confidence
Self-doubt shows up in everyone eventually. Persistence pushes through. It spends almost no time trying to convince anyone of anything, especially yourself. It just pushes forward and says, “Let’s do more work. Let’s do better work. Let’s go make it happen.” What I find so powerful about persistence is it’s stubborn attitude and bullish quality. It’s less fine skill and more blunt instrument. Either way, a necessary tool to have in your belt when you need it.
Do the work.
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