This week the theme of the studio is all about PERSEVERANCE, which we define as reaching the point of past failure and deciding to continue. I have really been thinking about this definition and how much perseverance is lacking. I came up with four, fairly simple reasons why.
1.) We are safe. For the most part we don’t have to really fight for anything. Athletes experience perseverance in order to win. Some business owners have to persevere in order to keep their businesses open. But the every day, middle class citizen is pretty safe- they have the necessities (food, shelter, clothing) and then some. There is no need to fight for food, water, life.
2.) Instant Gratification. Just like we are safe, we can get almost anything we want instantly (or within 2 days with Amazon Prime). Patience is dead, and with the perseverance is dying as well.
3.) Accountability. If you are the only person on Earth who knows if you persevered that day or gave up, it is really easy to give up. Once you are forced to be held accountable, you are more likely to persevere to achieve something. Without accountability the only person you are letting yourself down, which then can spiral into all other kinds of personal damage like lack of self-confidence or self-credibility– that that is a conversations for a different day.
4.) Failure is easier. And let’s be honest, as humans we naturally go toward what is easy EVERY. CHANCE. WE. GET.
I am sure many of you will agree that at least one of these four reasons to be true. How do you discover perseverance through this? It is all a shift in the story you tell yourself.
1.) Tell yourself failure is off the table. Failure is not an option. Come up with the next step. Then take it. NOW! And that is one way to persevere.
2.) Find a coach or accountability buddy that you don’t want to let down. During my athletic days, I never wanted to let down my teammates. I would show up to practice early, I would work on my “game” in order to uphold my end of the bargain to make my team better. Do you have someone like this? If not, start hanging around people who are dedicated to the same results you want to achieve, or hire a coach. The investment you put into learning the value of perseverance will far out pay the money spent.
3.) Find gratification in the small wins of a job well done. If you decided to push past a past failure and did one more, that is a win. Celebrate it. Give yourself a positive pep talk that you have gotten better. Pretty soon doing one more is easy, however, over time that one more adds up drastically and so will your perseverance muscle.
4.) Remember why you started! So many people have a reason why they started something. Then what ever their goal is becomes hard. It is easier to quit then continue. The pain of continuing is more immediate than the pain of not reaching their end goal. Therefore, once again quitting becomes easy. However, if you remember you why… your end goal, many times you will find the motivation to no give up, to not be a quitter, and to push past failure, and take that next step— to PERSEVERE!
These are just some of my thoughts. I would love to hear yours. Feel free to comment below. Let’s have a real conversation about this… and what you believe it means to really persevere and succeed.
