Personal Development
5 Perseverance Lessons That Helped Me Thrive
#2 It takes courage of strategy to be persistent
Throughout my life, I’ve experienced up and down moments of persistence when I was learning new skills, when I was finishing projects I’ve been working on, or even when I was looking for the best way to overcome adversity.
During those moments of struggle, it was helpful to find flaws in my plan and learn what things I can change to improve my situation.
If you have faced obstacles as well and needed to push through the hurdles life has thrown in your way, below are five key perseverance lessons from famous people who found themselves at a low point and emerged victoriously. Their experiences are what every aspiring individual should know and hear.
1. Jim Rohn: Don’t Quit, Stop Being Unreasonable
The late Jim Rohn is a great mind in business and motivational speaker who taught the importance of having a positive attitude and not quitting when you fail to meet your goals.
As long as you’ve not given up, you should be prepared to work harder and smarter than ever before — success is not a straight line, but it’s more like an undulating curve.
Rohn believed that entrepreneurs have to go through the lows to be able to enjoy the highs. According to him, learning how to handle failures is just as important as being knowledgeable in your field of work. He said:
“To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?”
2. Brian Tracy: It Takes Courage of Strategy to Be Persistent
The motivational public speaker and self-development author, Brian Tracy, is a pioneer of modern time management and created his own system for it.
One of Tracy’s key tips is to determine your mindset and then follow a process that will help you move forward. He designed the following 12 steps method for setting and achieving any goal:
- Decide exactly what you want.
- Write it down.
- Set a deadline.
- Identify the obstacles that you will have to overcome to achieve your goal.
- Identify the knowledge, information, and skills you will need to achieve your goal.
- Identify the people whose help and cooperation you will require to achieve your goal.
- Make a list of everything you will have to do to achieve your goal.
- Organize your list into a plan by arranging the points you have identified by sequence and priority.
- Make a plan: determine a series of steps from the beginning until the realization of your goal.
- Select your number one, most important task for each day.
- Develop the habit of self-discipline by focusing on your most important task until you complete it.
- Practice visualization of your goals.
3. Tony Robbins: Do What You Love and Love What You Do
Tony Robbins is not only an entrepreneur, he is an author, philanthropist, and a well-known motivational speaker who has inspired people all over the world. He has enjoyed tremendous success with his seminars and products. However, this was not always the case for him.
Before becoming a bestselling author for books like “Awaken The Giant Within,” he was struggling in his personal life and left home when he was 17-years-old. Then he worked his way and got over the problems that plagued him. He finally made money, has success, and becomes happy with himself.
Robbins believes that doing what you love and loving what you do is a key to fulfillment in life.
4. Dale Carnegie: It’s Not About How Bad It Gets, But How Much You Fight Through
Dale Carnegie, author of the bestselling book “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” was by no means an overnight success. He was born into poverty on a farm in Missouri and his business ventures have failed more than once only to rise again more successfully.
Carnegie didn’t become one of the most influential people in the world within a few years, but it has taken him decades of work. You need to be prepared to fight through the lows in order to see results.
When you get yourself into a deep hole, you have two choices: you can give up or fight your way out.
5. Nido Qubein: Have a Vision and Understand How to Get There
Nido Qubein is an American Lebanese-Jordanian businessman, motivational speaker, and president of High Point University since 2005. He is also the founder and chairman emeritus of the National Speakers Association Foundation.
Qubein’s vision was to create a university that combines the best of both worlds. As he said in an interview: “We don’t want people to become teachers, we want them to become leaders who inspire others.” His plan is simple:
Identify your strengths, develop them, and use them as a vehicle to help others.
We all have talents and skills that make us different from one another. It’s when we start ignoring those talents and skills that we risk wasting our lives on mediocre jobs.
Final Thought
Whether you’re building a business or simply trying to get ahead in your life, keep in mind that:
- The path to success is not easy, but it’s possible.
- The most important thing is to start doing something to improve yourself; you cannot achieve anything without action.
- No one of us is perfect: everyone makes mistakes and there is no reason why not to learn from past experiences.
- When it comes to starting something new, don’t just do it for the end result. Find a way to live it with a form of pleasure.
Perseverance doesn’t mean that you have to achieve everything from the first try, because there will always be new challenges before you. It means that you should never give up, even if things seem hopeless at times.
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” — Tony Robbins
🧠💡 I write about engineering, technology, and leadership for a community of smart, curious people. Join my free email newsletter for exclusive access or sign up for Medium here.
