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Nearly everyone would like to know the secret to success and many understand that perseverance is one of the keys. But how many actually embrace or even know that it is consistent perseverance that really is the secret in the sauce of success?
Watch a small child try to get what he or she wants, or remember what the experience may have been like for you. The child nags and nags, whines, and maybe even cries. “I want that” becomes their mantra. They are persistent.
In fact, the child that gets what they want, exhibits consistent perseverance. The child who was not consistent, who gave up, did not get what they wanted. I’m not advocating acting like a child and throwing a temper tantrum in order for you to succeed, but I am advocating acting like a child and not giving up on your goals. When you give up, you gain nothing and success will elude you.
Like the child, the message we get is “no” or “wait,” or “not now.”
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Become like that child. No matter how many times you hear no, think of a way to get to yes. It’s not enough to just persevere. If you persevere only in starting and then stopping each time your challenges seem too great, your accomplishments are diminished. Author, motivator, and speaker Anthony Robbins says, “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”
Here’s the thing, we all have dreams and aspirations, but many of us fail to reach them because we lose focus or we allow others to tell us “no.” We give others the ability to “hold out” our key ingredients. That is not a recipe for lasting success or attaining the life we imagine for ourselves.
There are many reasons we don’t persevere. Like the child, the message we get is “no” or “wait,” or “not now.” We fail in our first few attempts and we quit. Sometimes we never even start because our goal seems too difficult to handle and success impossible to reach.
Another reason, one that most of us would never admit to or will speak of only in whispers, is sometimes we are just too lazy to commit to success. After all, dreaming is easy, but taking action and consistently persevering is the missing ingredient. George Washington Carver, the scientist who experimented with the peanut, said “Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.” Put another way, excuses are the ingredients of failures.
The good news is that success is not as elusive as you might think, but it does require action and you must include consistent perseverance as a key ingredient of the secret sauce of success. What is needed for consistent perseverance? These suggestions may help:
• Have a clear vision of what success means for you – not your parents, your friends, your teacher, your spouse, etc.
• Be focused. Keep your eyes on the prize.
• Reflect often on your progress, your challenges, and your solutions.
• Celebrate your successes.
• Guard your dreams and aspirations. There are lots of naysayers in the world. Carefully choose who you share your dreams with.
• Keep it moving. Don’t give up. Don’t let the pain of failures (past, present or future) stop you in your tracks. It’s not necessarily the failures but it’s the pain that you imagine will go with the failure.
Yes, there are ingredients to success and consistently persevering is one of the key ingredients of the secret sauce.
If you have difficulty understanding what you would like to get from life, what success would be for you, then don’t hesitate to contact a professional. A professional like Dr. Walter Sims can help you uncover the ingredients you need in your recipe for success.
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