The Power of Persistence
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men (people) with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
- President Calvin Coolidge
My father had this quote framed and hanging on the wall of his office for as long as I can remember. He prided himself as someone who had pulled himself by his bootstraps. After he died, I held onto it and rediscovered the quote among some of his items in a drawer. Finding it seemed quite timely as my daughter is looking for work and I’ve wanted to be more deliberate about helping leaders step into their future vision.
If you’re a coach, I wouldn’t recommend trying to coach one’s daughter, but you can help them understand that finding gainful employment is about persistence and perseverance until you have that offer in hand. It’s also about numbers. As with a sales role, you may have 100 conversations before 10 show any real interest and of those only a couple may lead to an actual opportunity. It takes that persistent effort to reach your goal whether it be landing a job, getting the promotion, launching a new product, or growing your business.
Recently, I visited with my brother-in law and asked him to what did he attribute his success. He initially spoke about being driven and then brought up the concept of “grit” as defined by Angela Duckworth. She describes it as “passion and perseverance for long term goals.” Finding a goal that you care so much about that it “organizes and gives meaning to everything you do.” What I find so interesting about this notion is not setting the goal but getting back up when you fail or pushing forward when the path seems blocked.
So how do you overcome obstacles? First, it’s overcoming the resistance. Sometimes this is only your ego getting in the way. Don’t let yourself be hijacked by negative feelings. Learn to listen to your internal wisdom. Anything worth doing takes repeated effort and failure is just a part of doing something worthwhile. If you find you’re unable to move something forward after a couple attempts, then try something different. Consider multiple ways to obtain the same outcome. There’s never only way one. Perseverance takes focus and continuity of effort.
Ask yourself what’s the opportunity here? Every experience we have or set back is an opportunity for growth. It’s important to ask yourself what did I learn and how will I move forward now. Perhaps you didn’t get that promotion or the funding you needed for your business, so how do you motivate yourself to “press on?” As Duckworth described, it’s important to understand the why behind what you’re pursuing. But is that enough? It’s not just about the big “P” (purpose), you need to work on the how and measure your progress incrementally. What did I accomplish towards my goal today? How am I a little better at reaching it than yesterday? What are the three steps I can take now? Can you delegate or involve someone else in the process in order to get your project to the finish line?
Finally, develop a growth mindset. As Carol Dweck discovered, “a growth mindset is the belief that your basic qualities are things that can be cultivated through your efforts.” Everyone can change and grow through application and experience. Your true potential is unknown (and unknowable) and it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. The passion for stretching yourself and persevering even when it’s not going well embodies a growth mindset. It’s how you thrive during the most challenging times. Rather than giving up when the going gets tough (a fixed mindset) you persist and try even harder. The orientation is always towards learning and improving.
I wonder if my essay captures my father’s beliefs about persistence. If only he were still around to discuss. In any case, I’m going to follow my own advice.
Here are some statements courtesy of Carol Dweck on determining whether you have a growth or fixed mindset.
Answer these statements and decide if you mostly agree or disagree with it.
1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.
2. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.
3. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.
4. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.
Statements 1 and 2 are a fixed mindset. 3 and 4 reflect a growth mindset.
Here are a couple more statements related to personality and character and decide if you mostly agree or disagree with it.
1. You a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.
2. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.
3. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed.
4. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.
Statements 1 and 3 are fixed mindsets and 2 and 4 are the growth mindset statements.