Persistence is well known as an invaluable goal achieving quality to have. However, it has both a positive and a little less positive connotation – depending on which end of the stick you find yourself.
Recently, I was in Maine with my friend Jodi, and I watched her 10-month-old grandson get up, fall down, get up and fall down again. He didn’t seem to tire.
When we watch a young human being learning to do what everyone else around him is doing, we say “oh look at him, he’s so persistent, he’ll be walking soon!”
Sweet.
I have watched and videotaped baby elephants from a distance ambling alongside their mothers as best they can, and it’s a treat to watch how much guidance an elephant’s trunk can provide. Animals teach us too.
Amazing.
I receive multiple phone calls, and when that doesn’t work, handwritten envelopes from one of my favorite charities asking for more. After all, they remind me, I am a ‘gold level supporter’ for which they are very grateful.
How can I not say ‘yes’?
They ask, and invariably, yes is exactly what I say.
Endless.
Persistence pays off. Why didn’t they tell us this in really simple, easy to follow language decades ago when we were in school? Or maybe they did, and we didn’t consciously put it to use … And that’s why so many inspirational speakers have reminded us that a person who doesn’t have persistence may not go very far – you get the point.
The baby has a basic instinct and knows he must keep trying, the baby elephant’s mother helps him to his feet, and he has no choice but to keep up. And the fundraisers know it too because persistence brings in their contribution targets.
Each one gets what they want because they know persistence is the only way to arrive at the desired goal or need.
I’ve had a lot of goals and so have you. Between the two of us, I wonder how many we’ve let slip through our fingers, or delayed because we didn’t feel we were ready? Imagine what applying a little more persistence could have done.
If you truly want it. Never Give Up! Try a good dose of well calculated persistence and then, let’s compare notes.
If ‘they’ can do it – so can we!
