Perseverance is continuing to do something in spite of obstacles or difficulties. It is one of the best qualities to have because with perseverance success in your endeavors is almost guaranteed.
To persevere we need to have faith that we actually can succeed. If we don’t believe success is possible for us, we will not be motivated to continue. But this is the dilemma. If we don’t have much belief in ourselves, we will quit our efforts more readily, and when we quit, we obviously do not succeed and that seems to give credit to the idea we couldn’t succeed anyway. Sadly, this can develop into a regular habit. If on the other hand, we believe we will succeed, we will not give up. We may encounter great difficulties or even defeats, but because we believe we’ll ultimately succeed, even with failures we just change our tactics or adjust our goals a little and continue to try. Because we keep trying and adjusting we greatly improve our chances of success. This is the essence of self-fulfilling prophesy.
So at the heart of success, is the ability to persevere. But how do we encourage this quality in ourselves?
Be aware of your desire to give up too early, and of the truth that persistence will almost always lead to success. When you start a new endeavor, make a promise to yourself that you will try it for a specific period of time and won’t quit before that time is up. Make the interval of time short if you need to, but no matter what, keep your promise and do not quit before the allotted time. When the deadline arrives, you can then decide if your strategy is working and you should continue in the same manner, or if you need to make adjustments in your strategy. Allow yourself to abandon one strategy in favor of another after you’ve given it a fair trial, but never quit on your goals. Only change your strategies.
