Persistence is one of the most valuable qualities you can have. In fact, you’ll need it to achieve your goals.
“No great achievement is possible without persistent work.”
– Bertrand Russell
Humans have an instinctual hunger to accomplish goals and improve their lives. How else do you think we’ve transformed the world? When we know what we want, persistence allows us to go for it and make it happen. Although, there will be obstacles along the way.
Everything started out as an idea in someone’s mind. When that person attempts to bring it into reality, they’ll have to make it through setbacks and times of demotivation to succeed.
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Luckily, you can gain the persistence you’ll need to break through the obstacles so you can create your dream life!
So, how do you do that? Glad you asked!
Here’s how to gain unstoppable persistence:
1. Decide what you want.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
– Harriet Tubman
First, you’ll need to figure out what goals would make yourself and your life better. What is it that kills you inside every day? How can you solve this?
Do you want to start a company? Move to a new state? Lose some weight? Do you want to declutter your house or office? So, grab a notebook and brainstorm for a few minutes. Whatever you think would improve your life, write it down in detail.
Moreover, writing down your goals will increase the chance that you complete them.
What do you need to do to get there? Also, how will you maintain that success?
For example, if you want to lose weight, you can’t quit eating healthy and working out when you reach your ideal weight. You have to create a new lifestyle for your entire life. However, over time, you’ll discover that there are delicious, healthy foods and there are fun ways to exercise.
Commit to this change and have the persistence to stay with it.
2. Visualize yourself achieving your goal often
“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”
– John D. Rockefeller
Visualize yourself reaching your goal and keep that in your mind. Experience the energy and feel how proud you are of yourself.
Remind yourself about what you’ll gain from this accomplishment. When you know why you’re working so hard in the first place, your persistence grows. Furthermore, it’ll motivate you to push through the setbacks and hours of hard work.
So, why do you want to reach this goal? It needs to be a good reason, or you’ll lose motivation. Is it to help your family? More financial freedom? Better health? A happier life?
3. Stop procrastinating
“Every day that I procrastinate, every day that I sit stagnant in fear, every day that I fail to better myself, someone else out there with the same goals and dreams as me is doing the exact opposite.”
– Noel DeJesus
When you procrastinate you’re restraining yourself from the life you desire. People do this because of negative thinking and fearful thoughts. But, don’t delay your dream life any longer!
Instead, encourage yourself. Don’t worry, you can do this. You just need to climb the cliff at the beginning; this ledge is the starting point of your journey. Afterward, things will be much easier.
Starting is the hardest part of the process so, get it over with and get started ASAP!
4. Focus on one step at a time
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier
Don’t worry about accomplishing your goal or all the work it’ll take. That’ll overwhelm you, and you’ll quit before you get started. Instead, only focus on the next small step.
For example, if you’re going to write a book, don’t worry about writing the entire thing. Instead, focus on one paragraph at a time, chapter by chapter, step by step until you reach the end.
Furthermore, make working towards your goal a habit and do it every day, no matter what. Don’t think about it; just do it first thing every morning. Then you won’t need to persevere, because you’ll do it automatically.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle
Never skip a day because that can become a habit as well!
Doing one small thing might feel insignificant, but it will add up to an excellent finished product.
5. Get obsessed with your goal
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
– Albert Einstein
Feel free to dive into your goal head first. Read everything you can about it, watch videos about it, and talk about it. Allow yourself to become obsessed. This will set fire to your passion and motivate you to succeed.
If you don’t keep your goal in the forefront of your mind, then you’ll forget about its importance. Then it’ll never happen.
6. Learn how to adapt
“We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.”
– James Freeman Clarke
Life doesn’t run on your schedule. Furthermore, you’re not entitled to success; you must fight your way to it. Sometimes everything will fall apart but, don’t kick and scream about it; that won’t change anything. Instead, learn to roll with the punches and adapt to everything life throws at you.
The road to success isn’t straight upwards. It’s more like a wave. There will be crests of excitement and troughs of struggle.
Although, if you can persevere through the hard times, nothing can stop you from succeeding.
Therefore, the pain and frustrations are signs that you’re on the right path, not a sign to quit.
7. Don’t let failure stop you
“Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.”
– Denis Waitley
Failure happens to every successful person. In the end, they succeeded because they didn’t stop when failure reared its ugly head. Instead, they chose to learn from it, pushed it aside, and kept going. You’ll probably have several failures before you reach success. But that’s okay! Moreover, that’s how you learn and grow. Expect it, because it’s normal and just keep moving forward.
8. Stop worrying about what others think
“Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.”
– Albert Einstein
If you’re going to do something amazing, then you can’t waste time worrying about what others think of it. There will always be some idiot who wants to hold you back. So, know to ignore them beforehand.
You’ve got to do this, full force. So, don’t let anyone sway you.
9. Don’t compare your progress to others
“Let me tell you the secret that has led to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.”
– Louis Pasteur
We’re all vastly different, so we can’t compare ourselves to others. Besides, they might be speeding along way past you, but who knows what obstacle they’ll run into later? It may even cause them to quit.
Although it might take you a long time to reach your goal, that’s okay. J.K. Rowling took 6 years to write Harry Potter and she seems to be doing pretty well for herself!
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius
So, have patience with your process.
10. Get confident in your abilities
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Before confidence, comes competence. So, practice and study your craft. Fine-tune it and get valuable criticisms, so you can work on those areas and improve even more. You won’t be awesome at first, but the more you practice, the better you’ll become!
11. Encourage yourself throughout your journey
“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”
– Jim Watkins
It’s nice to have others support your goals. But, for the most part, you’ll be alone working on this. Other’s support is secondary to your own internal motivational cheerleader. Moreover, no one can build your skills or your progress but yourself.
Furthermore, you’ll always be there when you’re working late into the night to encourage yourself every step of the way. So, always tell yourself you’re doing great and to keep going!
12. Stay positive
“Choose the positive. You have a choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”
– Bruce Lee
If you’re telling yourself you can’t do this project, then you won’t do it. Simple as that. If you always tell yourself excuses like, “I’m not talented enough.” or “It’s too much work.” then, that’ll guarantee it won’t happen.
Instead, think about how it will work and how you can do it. Ignore the negative messages and excuses in your mind. Besides, people much worse off than you have probably achieved your goal.
In short, none of your dreams will come true without ruthless, stubborn, persistence. Accomplishing incredible things isn’t easy, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll fight for it and find a way around every obstacle.
So, ignore the negative thoughts and stay focused on your dream. Visualize it and strive for it every day. Soon, you’ll develop the persistence to achieve any goal if you follow these tips.
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Comment below: what have you accomplished with persistence?
👍 “No great achievement is possible without persistent work.”
That’s right! 🙂