Persistence a key ingredient of success Part 10

THE STARTING POINT OF ALL ACHIEVEMENT IS DESIRE ...

The ease with which LACK OF PERSISTENCE may be

conquered will depend entirely on the 

INTENSITY OF ONE'S DESIRE

(Napoleon Hill)

In Chapter 9 of Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill looks at persistence.  Persistence is a quality that keeps one keeping on, no matter what.  In order to accumulate wealth and success we have to keep on doing the right actions CONSISTENTLY. Becoming truly successful requires dedicated, consistent and sustained effort.  

It appears that many individuals in today's society lacks persistence.  This is something I have to work on very hard to cultivate in my own life.

It is much easier to complain about your life, or to blame a whole array of circumstances for your lack and misfortune.  An ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY permeates our society,. many people are seeking something for nothing.  Unfortunately, karma, sowing and reaping, or what ever you want to call 'it' still works.  

Entitlement  is a barrier to personal growth, one that keeps many of us from achieving our goals and life's purpose. Entitlement is something we have to oppose in our own personalities.

On this point Napoleon Hill is very passionate.  He tells us that you really cannot expect to receive something for nothing.  Life does not work that way.  Life rewards action, but not spasmodic action. Life rewards consistent, dedicated, and purpose driven action.  

Performing such dedicated, consistent, and purposeful action requires PASSION AND DESIRE.  Passion and desire is what motivates persistence.  Hill talks much about the need to cultivate a DESIRE (passion) for success and wealth. The degree to which you are passionate dictates the degree of your persistence.

Unfortunately, many people were given the impression that DESIRE is something  bad.  That you may not desire anything, but without desire we become spiritually 'castrated' (I have no other words to explain it).  DESIRE is what FUELS PERSISTENCE.   

Persistence also requires a DEFINITE PLAN.  As mentioned in a  previous posting, a plan is an outline of action steps to take towards your goal.  Persistence is the quality that helps us to stick with the plan, even when it seems like everything is falling apart. 'Sticking' with a plan is only possible if you really desire to see the outcome come into your reality.  Remember that persistence is a habit.  I habit I believe anyone can and should learn.  

The story is told of Thomas Edison testing thousands of electric light bulbs before finally succeeding.  That is a testimony to persistence.  Edison did not give up when light bulb 743 failed. When would I have  quit? I ask myself, what keeps me from quitting my dreams now?

We should really learn from that.  

In closing I am leaving the following thoughts presented by Napoleon Hill: 

1. Failure is not final - it only tells you that your previous plan had not worked. 

2. Persistence can only exist along with a strong desire - ask yourself: what am I passionate about? Have I lost my passion? What do I have to do to regain my passion?  

3. Take consistent steps toward success - many people expect a reward for ad-hoc spasmodic action, however, action of the consistent, dedicated, and purposeful flavour have always yielded the biggest returns.  

4. Develop plan and stick with your plans.  Plans are needed to carry you through the hard days when you feel tired and uninspired.  

5. Reading my comments, books, or other self-help material does not constitute a plan.  Modern educations systems are good at telling us about stuff, but poor at teaching us how to put our training into practice.  Start to apply your learning through a definite plan.

If you require some more inspiration about persistence, I recommend the film The Pursuit of Happyness. This is one of my favourite films. I watched it again yesterday, and it really spoke to my heart about persistence.  That's it for this posting. Please feel free to add your comments below.