How to Develop Perseverance
No one in life is immune to difficulties. Everyone has setbacks from time to time. But a skill that is possessed by every successful person on the face of this planet is perseverance. Perseverance is a key factor in reaching your goals and becoming successful in anything you do.
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.
Perseverance is cultivated and made stronger over time and with effort. The best things in life that make the most impact on you, your life, and those around you aren't free. You must work for it. If it were free everyone would have it and it wouldn't be worth much then.
The most important factor that is an absolute must you have to preserver is believing in yourself. 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 when obstacles present themselves in our path. We will not stay up late to finish that last contract or completing that last blog. We will throw our hands up when we get criticized about what we are doing.
Without unshakable faith in yourself and your abilities to do what you do you will crumble when things don't go your way and give up and settle for something less than you were created for. And when you give up in one area it is a slippery slope to begin to give up in other areas too. You might begin to give up on dropping those extra pounds that have been hanging around because "I don't have time to workout or eat healthy" or staying in a bad relationship because "they love me"
Sadly, this can develop into a regular habit and affect your life in every area.
But on the other hand, when we 100% 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 prophecy and being a champion.
So at the heart of success, is the ability to persevere. But how do we grow this quality in ourselves?
1. Feed Your Mind
I know you have heard the powerful saying, "You will be the sum of the 5 people you hang around most" well this is true for what you read and watch and say as well. If you are constantly reading negative news and things involving drama, or watching shows or movies about disaster and drama, or engaging in negative talks about business, economy, and other things, you will only see those things in your life.
Instead, I challenge you to take 1 week and devote it to feeding your mind with only positivity. If there is a negative conversation going on, either change the topic or walk away. Have only happy, encouraging, positive conversations or enjoy some quiet time to yourself. Watch and/or read only positive or funny things. I personally make it a habit to watch a motivation speech on YouTube everyday, or read about someone who overcame adversity. Hughley impacted my mental state for the better.
Do this for 1 week and you will begin to notice a difference in the way you think and start to become more resilient in tough times.
2. Change Your Focus.
Everyone has that inner critic that wants to tell us, "your to old, or your to young, to fat or to skinny, you rich or to poor, you don't deserve it, you can't do this, etc." but, what successful people do differently is they change the focus of the internal dialogue. Instead of listening to what is being said they do one of three things.
1. Reverse the thought. ex. "I'm too young to do this" to "I'm at the perfect age to do this because I am young and have time on my side." or, "I'm too old to do this" to "I'm at the perfect age because I have time, experience, and wisdom on my side, and let's don't forget the connection and resources."
2. Accept It As A Challenge. They take whatever the inner critic is saying as a challenge and get fired up and motivated to prove them, and anyone else who thought they couldn't do it, wrong!"
3. Pull Out Their Phone. They instantly pull out their phone and Google who has done what they are wanting to do, who were in a similar situation or worse situation. This will reinforce the belief that, if they did it then so can I.
3. Love Yourself.
Love yourself. It is okay to be you. God made you unique and special. Enjoy the fact that there is no one else like you on the planet.
Write down a list of 5-10 things you like about yourself. ex. 1. you area good listener. 2. You are a great dresser. 3. You are creative. 4. You are funny 5. You are a good cook 6. You are a good driver 7. You are a good business owner. 8. You are compassionate. 9. You are good with animals 10. You are great at sales
The more you love and appreciate yourself the better you will feel about yourself. And with that comes the key factor of success, perseverance.
How?
Because you love yourself enough to finish what you start. You know you can't fail because you will learn through what you go though. You will enjoy the process because you know that success is a journey and not a destination.