“Where is my inhaler?” I asked myself. I am used to losing little things like this. The other time, they were my keys. You never can tell of what importance little things like these can be in your life until you lose them (might even cost you your job).
Okay! Here I am still in search of my ‘inhaler’ when I stumbled on a book I bought some years back covered in dust. I must tell you, the book changed the way I think and if you haven’t read it, you should.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People written and inspired by late Stephen Convey, who died this year; May his soul rest in peace.
The book is a very good book. It inspires and motivates you to be proactive and follow your dreams, but ‘Big daddy’ omitted one habit, PERSISTENCE. Yeah! Persistence, without persistence, we wouldn’t have great men like Thomas Edison, Brian Tracy, Joe Girard, Ken Blanchard and even Stephen Convey.
Many people fail to achieve because they quit before the desired results have been obtained. Every effort we make produces a result, yet seldom do our initial efforts yield the end results we seek.
No great achievement, or great failure, for that matter, has ever been attained without persistence. There are many reasons why people fail to persist but we shall only examine two; their causes and how to avoid them and also discuss how to develop persistence and why it is an indispensable quality of a highly effective person (someone that gets what he/she wants out of life).
FAILURE: one thing quitters don’t know about failure is that it is never failure until it becomes accepted as such. Remember Thomas Edison, after thousands of attempts to create the electric light, he (Edison) didn’t consider any of his unsuccessful attempts as failure.
In your search for success, many obstacles will stand between you and your goal. Don’t abandon your goals; instead consider altering the path you are taking to reach them. If you persist, eventually you will find the road to success.
FEAR OF REJECTION: rejection is a natural by product (except you are introvert) in life. Persistence is the only protection you have from the painful effects of rejection, for you can’t waste time licking your wounds when you are busy pursuing your prey. Like a bull, develop a thick horn not easily penetrated by the blades of rejection, but be intelligent enough to identify and charge the real target rather than the empty excuses that are sometimes used to divert you.
Persistence is one of the greatest principles of success; if you persist long enough you will win and I am sorry for the ‘quitters’ who are afraid to persist.
As a person who thirsts for success, you must possess a fierce initiative that allows you to make things happen. Do not possess a sheep’s mentality, waiting around until someone else prompts you to act; be the lion and take care of yourself.
Quitters have settled for something different from their dream just because they are afraid to persist. The road to success is not smooth; you can only make it so with persistence. Without persistence, you can never get what you want out of this life.
The blow that tumbles the oak tree is not the final blow, but a collective blow. Because of man’s impatient human nature, we often have little appreciation for the number of blows that have come in between.
Instantaneous efforts seldom produce long term benefits; it is the efforts we make over time that usually produce the most permanent results. In this way, every effort you make will produce a result even though it may not be immediately noticeable.
NOTE: whatever becomes engraved in your subconscious mind will eventually become a reality in your life.
If you are inspired by this piece, I would be glad to read your comments and respond to them likewise.
If you are inspired by this piece, I would be glad to read your comments and respond to them likewise.
Sadiq Daniel
