Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.–Mario Andretti
There are a couple of others thoughts I wanted to share with you about being persistent. Once you’ve developed a strong purpose for accomplishing anything, then you need to be careful with your self talk. You have to make sure you aren’t making excuses. George Washington Carver said, ” Ninety-nine percent of failures comes from people who have the habit of making excuses.” You have to be always monitoring yourself so you don’t start making excuses when things don’t go your way. No matter how many mistakes you’ve made or failures you’ve had, don’t make excuses. It is what it is! Just take responsibility for yourself, learn from each mistake, and keep trying.
Another way to remain persistent is to develop your determination. If you want to remain persistent over the long run, you need to develop your inward determination constantly. Here are some stories of people who did just that:
Admiral Peary attempted to reach the North Pole seven times before he was successful on his eighth try.
Oscar Hammerstein had five flop shows before Oklahoma, which ran for 269 weeks and grossed over $7 million.
Eddy Arcaro lost 250 consecutive races before he won his first.
Albert Einstein and Edgar Allan Poe, were expelled from school for being mentally slow.
Henry Ford was unsuccessful twice before creating Ford Motor Car Company. (Thanks, Patrick Rigg)
Work on becoming a determined person. One way to accomplish this is to read stories of people who tried and failed but kept going. If you ever heard or read the story of Orville Redenbacher, he wasn’t very successful until he reached 67 years old. But he had a dream and the determination to pursue it. When he was asked about his philosophy, he said:
“Ive followed the classic homespun principles. Never say die. Never be satisfied. Be stubborn. Be persistent. Integrity is a must. Anything worth having is worth striving for with all your might. Does it sound cony? Honestly, that all there is to it. There is no magic formula.”
As you can see from these stories, the one common ingredient is persistence. If you are willing to be tenacious about being persistent, you can be successful.
Have an awesome day.
