Persistence is probably the most undervalued and misunderstood virtue in modern life. A hundred years ago people understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch. However in the last fifty years the self help market has focused almost entirely on affirmations and feelings. One can can understand why, who want's to work for something if you can just wish for it instead?
The problem is, it's just not true. Now don't get me wrong. It is wonderful to know exactly what you want, in fact it is one of the first steps of success. However if you don't do anything to realize your goal how can you expect it to be? We hear the phrases "leave it to God" or "let your higher power show you the path". But God and your higher power have given you eyes, ears and a brain and they have filed that brain with knowledge, common sense, reason and logic. They are already helping. How can they help you further if you won't help yourself? Wishing for success does not bring success, because it is reactionary. Wishing, wanting even praying for something to change, is simply you reacting emotionally to things that you don't like in your life.
When thinking of success It is important to keep in mind that it comes in stages, however even with this understanding most will still find the desire to wish for it too difficult to suppress. It is therefore important to understand what success is.
Almost everyone thinks of success as completion of a goal, but this is just not the case. Success is not static, so one must stop thinking of it in that way. We describe people as either successful or unsuccessful, but both these words imply a constant, not a goal. To be successful is in it's very essence, continuous, never ceasing. So one could say that success is not a destination but a journey. What's more important, succeeding once or being continuously successful? You see the goals that we obsess about are just a tiny part of our journey, there will be many more goals in the years to come. You don't want to obsess about a goal, you want to obsess about the method of achieving goals and this is what this blog has been teaching.
These 9 steps define the method of success. So if you are faithfully following these steps, even if you have not completed your goal, you are successful. You can't change your genetics to make the things you struggle with easier, all you can do is "continuously commit to the method". Don't obsess about the completion of your goal, it is counter productive. There is no end to success, so there can be no completion. One's obsession should be "continuous commitment to the 9 steps".
If you still want to think of success as a destination, that's fine. But the destination you are striving for is the place where you "continuously commit to the 9 steps". This is the only thing that will enable you to break through to the next level. Sometimes you will be breaking bad habits. Sometimes you will be doing that which you have limited experience in. However it is only this continuous, forced and sometimes painful repetition that will allow you to progress. Once the repetitions have been built up, the action will stop being awkward because it'll be habit. You will then habitually do the correct thing. Think of a toddler learning to walk or a child riding a bike, they try continuously.
If you do not persist, success will resist.
The problem is, it's just not true. Now don't get me wrong. It is wonderful to know exactly what you want, in fact it is one of the first steps of success. However if you don't do anything to realize your goal how can you expect it to be? We hear the phrases "leave it to God" or "let your higher power show you the path". But God and your higher power have given you eyes, ears and a brain and they have filed that brain with knowledge, common sense, reason and logic. They are already helping. How can they help you further if you won't help yourself? Wishing for success does not bring success, because it is reactionary. Wishing, wanting even praying for something to change, is simply you reacting emotionally to things that you don't like in your life.
When thinking of success It is important to keep in mind that it comes in stages, however even with this understanding most will still find the desire to wish for it too difficult to suppress. It is therefore important to understand what success is.
Almost everyone thinks of success as completion of a goal, but this is just not the case. Success is not static, so one must stop thinking of it in that way. We describe people as either successful or unsuccessful, but both these words imply a constant, not a goal. To be successful is in it's very essence, continuous, never ceasing. So one could say that success is not a destination but a journey. What's more important, succeeding once or being continuously successful? You see the goals that we obsess about are just a tiny part of our journey, there will be many more goals in the years to come. You don't want to obsess about a goal, you want to obsess about the method of achieving goals and this is what this blog has been teaching.
These 9 steps define the method of success. So if you are faithfully following these steps, even if you have not completed your goal, you are successful. You can't change your genetics to make the things you struggle with easier, all you can do is "continuously commit to the method". Don't obsess about the completion of your goal, it is counter productive. There is no end to success, so there can be no completion. One's obsession should be "continuous commitment to the 9 steps".
If you still want to think of success as a destination, that's fine. But the destination you are striving for is the place where you "continuously commit to the 9 steps". This is the only thing that will enable you to break through to the next level. Sometimes you will be breaking bad habits. Sometimes you will be doing that which you have limited experience in. However it is only this continuous, forced and sometimes painful repetition that will allow you to progress. Once the repetitions have been built up, the action will stop being awkward because it'll be habit. You will then habitually do the correct thing. Think of a toddler learning to walk or a child riding a bike, they try continuously.
If you do not persist, success will resist.
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