Goal Setting: Persistence Does Pay Off
   

We are used to living in a fast-paced world. You can have just about anything you want and have it just about when you want it. Food can be delivered to your door in 20 minutes or less. Information about anything is just a mouse click away via the Internet. Everything has become about speed. In such a fast-paced society, persistence has been forgotten. Commercials scream that they have found the latest quick fix. People set goals and then days later become discouraged when nothing happens. How many New Year’s resolutions are broken before the party is even over?

Stop for a minute and think – what is it that you want? How much time have you really invested in it? An Olympic athlete does not become an instant success overnight – he has spent hours of practice and training to hone his abilities. A concert pianist cannot pound out a difficult song with just minutes of practice – without hours of exercises she would sound like a two-year-old beating on the keys. Rome was not built in a day. Why should any goals that you have be any different?

Calvin Coolidge once said, "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Do you have the persistence it takes to press on? Dennis Waitley says, “Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.” Those who have persistence are the ones that meet their goals. They are the ones that are successful in what they do. They are the ones that the world looks up to and admires.

What is persistence? According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, it is “continuing, especially in the face of opposition.” It is that ability to get out of bed and say that you are going to do something for one more day – and to do that every morning. It is being like the tortoise in the immortal story of the tortoise and the hare that realizes that "slow and steady wins the race.” It is holding onto that dream you have with such bulldog tenacity that you will let nothing and no one rip it from you.

Everyone has known persistence once. How many times have you watched a young child struggle to crawl or walk? They reach and they stretch and they fall down and they get back up. If you did not have persistence you would never have gotten this far in life – you would still be helpless infants in your mother’s arms. According to Napoleon Hill, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” You just have to learn how to find that persistence again.

Life in the world is very competitive, and we have to learn not to fear obstacles but to embrace them. Otherwise we will be trampled by those who can. What do you have to lose? If you do not change what you are doing, you will continue on at the status quo. According to Ted W. Engstrom, "The rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory.” Everything comes with a cost. The price is persistence. With persistence you can achieve anything. It might not be instantaneous, but a little bit every day over a long time can add up. With each brick a house is built higher. With each shovel full a hole is dug deeper. With each note a musician improves. Over time the tiny steps can build into magnificent results.

The main thing behind persistence is to focus on the positives. "Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses... on your powers, instead of your problems," says Paul J. Meyer. No one can move a mountain with one push, but everyone can move a single stone. Over time, stone by stone, that mountain will be moved.

# # # # #

SolveYourProblem.com : 2006

> Home > Setting Goals: Main Page