A brand-new year, 2024. A shiny copper penny, a crisp $50 bill, the best recipe, a great motivational quote. I always think of “New Year” as a chance to improve and change ourselves. I used to think, oh man this year really sucked, and I am looking forward to a new year. I want to just put this year behind me. Ok! I get that. But here’s the thing, what we went through often strengthens us in ways that gives us persistence. We even say that. I have proof. Just look in Facebook. #1 quote posted, “I am looking forward to a new year, I just want to put this behind me”.
Persistence allows you to overcome obstacles that you may face.
Persistence is an important quality for success in ALL areas of life. It allows us to keep going when things get tough and to overcome obstacles and barriers. The defining characteristic of a successful person or goal is persistence. We do not inherit persistence, persistence is earned. I found this to be very important to my plans, hopes and my future. I do not like to call them resolutions. I prefer “plans”. Crap happens every day, we must adjust our mindset and goals because of it. This is persistence.
We become stronger in our quest for a better and healthier life.
How many times have we heard or seen people express their opinions as we continue trying to do something and it often can be difficult or other people are against it. This can be improvements we think will better our life such as spirituality – reading the bible and talking about it, surgery to help us lose weight or take medicine to help lose weight (I am guilty of this I judge when people take drugs that I know are not healthy and feel they can do better), eat things we know attribute to poor health.
Persistence is a strength which is closely related to other strengths such as courage, a desire to achieve something, and to be more honest, confident, and committed with ourselves and to the people we are around every day; regardless of repeated failures, dead ends, and periods of frustration when it seems like no progress is being made often come before any major breakthroughs happen. Persistent means having the inner energy and intensity to keep motivated and going through these tough times.
I often ask myself, why do we lack persistence? Maybe two reasons that could be why are not persistent with goals. The first could be a poor self-image. Deep down maybe we don’t have faith that we can succeed, or we only approach our plans and goals half-assed. Persistence is good when backed with a worthwhile goal. It works for anyone when it is a part of a process that is undertaken to head towards progress. By itself, it could be part of a compulsive behavior pattern which may not help anyone, like ready to give up at the first sign of difficulty.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Rohn
Persistence means being able to adjust and adapt without having a lousy attitude and falling apart when it feels hopeless. This itself is very hard to do for anyone. I often think in terms of sports such as gymnastics, diving, disability or disease etc. Persistent people can adjust and adapt their action plan most of the time. They do not stubbornly persist in the face of evidence that their plan is not working but look for better ways that will increase their chances of success. Highly persistent people see their journey as a series of dead ends, detours, and adjustments (nailing a landing, diving exquisitely, finding solutions to barriers) but have complete faith they will reach their destination. They are not tied into themselves and are quickly willing to admit when something is not working. Also, they are quick to adapt to the ideas of others that have been shown to work well. Persistent people usually stand out and are often misunderstood or ridiculed because they can make those around them feel uncomfortable. I learned this from my struggles and I will continue to strive to succeed.
A bend in the road is not the end of the road – Helen Keller