From the smallest tasks to the enormous, I keep realizing over and over how important persistence is.
A couple of weeks ago, I was working on finishing up this website, it looks good doesn’t it?
I’m going to spare you the details but let’s just say it was something that I didn’t know how to do. I asked for help no luck, I tried do it myself and I searched on Google.
The internet is one of the best resources, haven’t you had a problem or didn’t know how to do something and you type it in Google and your problem is fixed? Isn’t that the best feeling? Well this problem I couldn’t find on the internet, there were many blogs, articles, that all said different things, I tried all of them and I still couldn’t find the answer to my problem.
I kept persisting.
So I’m 3 hours in!!! This is around 3am, I was tired, now usually in this situation, I would save it for tomorrow, get some sleep but I spent so much time on it, I was really frustrated. I spent a good amount of time on this problem and I made the decision to find the answer no matter what.
I kept persisting.
Guess what happened at 4am? I found the answer in a video, but the funny thing is my answer was a very small part of the video. It clicked in my head RIGHT AWAY. I paused the video, tried it and it worked.
Ladies and Gentleman 4 hours later, on ONE problem and I found the answer. I felt extremely happy. Why?
I found my answer but more importantly because I didn’t give up. It was weird, that pressure I felt was relieved and replaced with joy but I knew this was a test of my persistence. I passed and I was happier that I persisted because my habit is stronger, my habit of not giving up, my habit of going through frustration and stress to get what I want.
It made me feel like I was on top of the world.
Now this certain case of persistence wasn’t a life or death situation. It was just a simple problem considering my website. I could have explained bigger cases but I think persistence is developed through the small daily tasks and challenges that we face.
How long does it take for you to give up?
A quote from Naploeon Hill Classic Book “Think and Grow Rich”.
“Lack of Persistence is one of the major causes of failure. Persistence is a weakness which may be overcome by effort. The ease with which lack of persistence may be conquered will depends entirely upon the intensity of one’s desire.”
My word of advice, if you are about to start something, make sure you know why are doing it, make that decision that you will follow through and see it to the end. If it isn’t worth your commitment don’t do it, Persistence is a HABIT, so if you give up, you are making that a habit, if you persist, you are making that happen.