Episode 43 -What We Really Persist For: it is not what you think.

WHAT WE REALLY PERSIST FOR: It is not What You Think.

I cannot begin to tell you about the number of authors, many of whose works I have read or listened to, who offer their ultimate praises and worship to the quality of being persistence. Yes, persistence indeed can be "a great substitute for talent" - Steve Martin. There is no question about it, "Persistence guarantees that success is inevitable" - Yogananda. And indeed if "ambition is the key to success, persistence is the vehicle you arrive in" - Bill Bradley.

To assume that people who give up on their dreams and aspirations in the face of adversities—however mild or severe they may be—simply lack the steadfastness required to "hang on a little longer," would be simply untrue. So would assuming such people give up on their dreams because they simply "do not want it bad enough." Most people want it BAD ENOUGH!

Why then do some people abandon their dreams; give up on themselves and then settle for what they deem possible?

WHY DID YOU EVER GIVE UP or put that thing on hold when things got tough?

There is an important element of persistence that I think has been completely eliminated from the conversation. It is the fact that no one persists for anything outside of themselves. Instead, people who are able to persist, through the most unimaginably difficult circumstances, do so for a VALUE that is within themselves—something that is a part of who they are.

In other words, no one persists in order to make $100k a year or in order to become a billionaire or in order to become the world champion at this or that. There is an underlining value that drives people to want to have or be such things, and it is this value that people who are able to, persist for.

When you think about it, do you think Martin Luther King Junior persisted so that he would become a Civil Rights icon? Do you think Nelson Mandela persisted so he would become known worldly as the most powerful voice behind the anti-apartheid revolutionary? No. There was a value that both these men believed in. It was something that was a part of who they were, and they were willing to fight and persist for that value even at the risk of their own lives and freedom.

More often than not, we either do not know what this value is or we completely lose touch with it within ourselves. It all comes down to one question: what really makes you want to have all the things that you aspire to have? Once you understand the underlying value that is driving you to want to achieve or have the things that you seek after, that is when you are really able to begin the journey of being persistence.

Do you want to gain an in-depth understanding of persistence, and learn how to persist through challenging times? Listen to what the stoic philosophers and biblical scholars say about persistence HERE ( Episode 43- What we Really Persist For: it is not what you think).