By Nicholas
Click on the pictures or diagrams to expand them.
Success is built on failure, frustration and sometimes catastrophe.
It’s not how many times you get knocked down; it’s how many times you get back up. You need to persevere!
Life tends to twist and turn too much for you to succeed the same way over and over again. What worked last time often fails the next time. Why? It is because situations are subtly different.
Sometimes you get a diminished return, other times things just don’t work. There are also times when the whole thing crashes and burns. Success is still possible. Like a Phoenix arising from the ashes, you need to learn from your mistakes, get back up, and press on.
Perseverance is important?
Perseverance is the art of getting back up every time you’re knocked down. Learn from the experiences and don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over.
With perseverance, you can eventually get pretty much anything done. You may decide part way there that it isn’t worth the effort required. And sometimes, that’s the proper outcome. Just be sure to remember and give full weight your reasons for starting before you hang up those gloves.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Perseverance is what gets things done. Yes, sometimes you get lucky and you get it on the first or second try, but the rest of the time it’s a slog — an uphill slog, in the rain, sleet and snow. At least that’s how it feels some days.
I was kicked out of University for not paying enough attention to my work. I got back in not because I was bright, rich or good looking. I got back in because I persevered. As soon as I could, I applied for readmission.
In the in between time I worked and took classes at a local Evening School. I persevered for the mandatory semester off and was accepted for readmission. I then persevered even more and re-took the classes I had failed, and took a summer semester to get the extra classes in to finish my degree.
If I thought University was tough, my love life was even tougher. There were lots of missteps, lots of breakups (mostly because I was an ass), and lots of heartache. I even managed to rack up a failed marriage. But I persevered. I knew there was someone out there for me. Eventually, I found her and we’ve been going strong for nearly 30 years.
So, what projects have you completed? What projects are you presently working on? What projects are on the “back burner?” What projects are in limbo or abandoned?
Grab some paper and write a few of each down. Note that I use the word project in the broadest possible manner. I would consider your love life is a project, whether it be finding one or improving what you have.
Is there a pattern that differentiates the ones that are done or you are still actively working on compared to the ones that are languishing? If you don’t see a pattern, pick a stalled or stopped project and work on getting it back on track.
For me, it’s often my level of interest or if I’ve been distracted by something shiny. Other times, I’m interrupted by something very urgent and never get back to it. What is it that takes the wind out of your sails?
Once you have an idea about what tends to get you side-tracked, think about what you can do to get back into the groove. That’s the main reason why each project I start has a couple of powerful “Why” statements. If you have strong reasons, it tends to be easier to get the project restarted after a setback.
Write the best three ideas down and think about them for a moment. Do any of them jump out as being particularly good for getting you to persevere and get back into the project? Is one going to be easy to remember or useful across multiple projects?
Now that you have a ‘winner,’ all that’s left is to put it into practice. Grab the project you want to get back to and use your idea to get you started again. Most importantly, take action. Find a part of the project you can do right this instant. Even if it’s just sending yourself an e-mail to get started in the morning.
For more blogs please go to www.NicksDigitalSolutions.com and choose Nicks blog.
For E-Learning material, please go to www.NicksDigitalSolutions.com and choose E-Learning Shop and, in particular, the Pathways to Success option. Some excellent material from Geoffrey Moss.
Nicholas (Nick Thorne) is the founder of MomohoNZ Limited a company that specialises in Education and Training; Infopreneur; Project and Analysis; and Writing. He lives in Gisborne, New Zealand.