Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ―Dale Carnegie
There are several qualities that lead to success and persistence is one of them. Persistence is a firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
A lot has been said on how persistence leads to success, and true that, persistence does lead to success. It takes continued effort to get good at a skill, it takes consistency to build a brand, it takes persistence to gain the knowledge and experience required for success. Good things don’t always come easy, you’d have to be willing to do what the majority won’t do, if you want to enjoy success in life. Here are 5 reasons you should persist for success:
1. You are not alone
Think about the people you know who are successful in their personal and professional lives. Were they born destined for success? How did they make it up to that point? Was the road to success hitch-free for them?
Certainly not! Every successful person has had to persist and persevere either through severe training and obstacles like Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan, James Dyson or through rejections, heartbreaks and disappointments like J. K Rowling or Jay-Z.
2. You get better at your craft
“Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” ―Conrad Hilton
Excellence is not an act but a habit, we are what we repeatedly do. Have you ever noticed that successful people like Dwayne Johnson, Steven Spielberg, Beyonce, J. K Rowling are all very good at what they do. Yes they are and only so because of continued persistent efforts towards success.
Success is usually dressed in work clothing. You would have to work hard and work smart to be successful. Not everyone has the knowledge/skill that success requires because not everyone has the patience and perseverance to hone it.
Successful people can repeatedly do successful things because they’ve mastered the process that leads to success through persistence. They understand that the more you do something, the better you get at it and so they persistently focus on those things that create success.
3. You gain experience
“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” ―James A. Michener
To be successful, you need to be aware of your weaknesses and strengths, so you can play to your strengths and work to minimize your weaknesses. You can only truly know your strengths and weaknesses, if you’re mentally prepared to fail and try again, fail again and keep trying until you iron out all your weaknesses to finally succeed.
Being persistent means getting up after a failure, learning from your mistakes and trying again. This whole process will help you gain experience, which is vital if you want all-round success. Experience will help you find out the things that can go wrong, the things that are crucial to a process or the things that are not required at all. This experience, which was a result of persistence, will teach you stuff that books and procedure manuals don’t.
4. If you don’t persist in your vision, someone else will
There are lots of great achievements taking place everywhere in the world. People are relentless and striving for success and progress. If you decide not to persist for success, be sure there are lots of other people who are continually pushing their dreams forward. If you aren’t willing to see your dream through, someone else probably is. Someone else will succeed where you gave up. Ask yourself: Do you want to be the person who let your dream go or the one determined enough to see it through? Do you want to be the one wondering what could have been or the one who makes things happen?
5. It would be worth it in the end
“Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about” — Winston Churchill
How would your life be if you decide to give up. Would you live it happily or would you regret it? It’s OK to take breaks or be flexible and look for new ways to make your dream work. But you have to keep working on that dream of yours.
If you really want to become successful and live your dream, don’t give up, don’t compare the past to the future. Give yourself the chance to perfect your skills and grow and improve.
When you finally achieve the precious dream you will be grinning from ear to ear.You will have your resilient never give up self to thank.