Category Archives: Persistence

The Stream and the Rock

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“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”

—The Buddha, Indian Spiritual Teacher

Image from Flickr by Nicholas A. Tonelli

Image from Flickr by Nicholas A. Tonelli

Most of my elementary school teachers would have described me as an average-to-good student with a bit of an attention problem.

Starting in the eight grade, I realized that although I was average-to-good on the standardized tests, I was able to outwork others to achieve what I wanted.

This “magic quality” has been a key to success throughout my life.

EXERCISE:

Where can you apply the power of persistence to outwork others and achieve your goals?

Trust when the answer is no

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“Trust that when the answer is ‘no,’ there’s a better ‘yes’ down the road.”

—Author unknown

Photo from Flickr by Abhi

Photo from Flickr by Abhi

Many people are familiar with the story of Thomas Edison’s 10,000-plus unsuccessful attempts to create the light bulb. His philosophy on such a high volume of failures was that the world was simply saying ‘no’ to the most recent attempt. He is quoted as saying, “I never failed. I only found 10,000 ways in which it did not work.”

Undaunted, he persisted in his efforts, always seeing a better way and getting to a ‘yes’ that would eventually light the world.

EXERCISE:

Where in your own life are you receiving your share of No’s?

How often do the No’s stop you? How often do they spur you on in faith, knowing that the better Yes’s of life may simply be a bit further down the road?

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

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“A jug fills drop by drop.”

—The Buddha, spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism

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Image from Flickr by Shan Sheehan

The other evening, I was watching a science program on television: “How the Universe Works.” The subject of this particular episode was how the Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago.

Surprisingly, I learned that in the early years, the Earth had no water at all. The constant bombardment of water-containing meteors and asteroids filled our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans drop by drop over billions of years.

Exercise:

What efforts are you adding, drop by drop, to your personal and professional “jugs” each day, to have a more fulfilling life?

“It is not a daily increase but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”

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“It is not a daily increase but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”

– Bruce Lee, martial artist and actor

When I speak with the majority of my clients and ask them how they are, they almost always say something that includes words such as “busy,” “swamped,” “overwhelmed,” or “slammed.”

Most of us are faced with an increasingly complex life, and unfortunately, spending time, space and energy on the inessentials can be exhausting. Bruce Lee suggests here that we can take particular note of what can be eliminated from our lives, to reclaim fulfillment, vitality and happiness.

Exercise:

Explore the following categories as you look to decrease or perhaps eliminate things from your life:

  • Clutter
  • Subscriptions
  • Email
  • Clothing
  • Toxic relationships
  • Technology

Press “reply” to this message and let me know some other categories you plan to hack away at.

someday

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“Someday is not a day of the week.”

– Unknown

Someone once said that hard work pays off in the future, but procrastination pays off now. This is a funny thought, and it may even be true on a limited basis. However, people who procrastinate and put things off for someday in the future often look back on their lives with regret.

When people are asked about their regrets in their lives, in their old age, they rarely regret the things they did and often regret the things that they did not do.

Exercise:

Rather than dreaming about the things you will do in the future, consider:

  • Traveling to wonderful places.
  • Starting a business or changing your career.
  • Learning a new language.
  • Becoming healthier.
  • Saving for retirement now.
  • Engaging in a new hobby.

Start or revisit your bucket list and place an actual date next to each item on the list.

Try to check one of those items off this week, if possible.

“The race is not always to the swift … but to those who keep running.”

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“The race is not always to the swift … but to those who keep running.”

– Unknown

Over the years, I have known a number of friends, colleagues and clients who took on the challenge of running a marathon. The most inspiring was a friend named Jerry, who was in his late 40s and about 50 lbs overweight.

Each week of his extensive training program, he would email his friends and colleagues about his efforts and progress. He even gave us his cell phone number to call him during the race, to provide support and encouragement.

The result – Jerry finished the race. (The time? Well, let’s say that it was way over six hours.)

Another wonderful result for Jerry is that he now sees he can take on other life challenges, because he keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

Exercise:

What proverbial life races are you planning to run, and where will you need a little “Jerry” inside you in order to finish?

“Persistence prevails when all else fails.”

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“Persistence prevails when all else fails.”

– Unknown

I believe that most people create their own luck, through the work they do day in and day out. Today’s quote suggests that persistence is a key for us to guarantee greater success and achievement.

Unfortunately, persistence almost always looks like work, and the light at the end of the tunnel often appears faint.

Exercise:

In what areas of your life does your ‘why’ make you cry, or bring you close to tears? You can bet that you have discovered a domain of your life where both persistence and the resulting rewards of your commitments will be realized.

#82: “It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life.”

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“…The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated… it is finished when it surrenders.”

– Ben Stein, American writer, actor, economist and lawyer

With the 2012 Olympic Games now complete, we can all be inspired by many highlights. Among them are numerous examples of individuals who came up short in previous games, and returned after 4 – 8 years of work to achieve their goal.

Some examples include:

  • Brittney Reese, who won gold in the women’s long jump, after coming fifth in 2008
  • Sanya Richards-Ross, who won gold in the 400 meters, after winning bronze in 2008
  • Allyson Felix, who won gold in the 200 meters, after winning silver in 2004 and 2008

Someone once shared with me the phrase, “What stops people is that they stop.” In virtually all areas of life, we experience various degrees of defeat. When we surrender or stop in our efforts, our failures are final.

Exercise:

Where in your professional and personal life can you keep going and persist in your efforts, to achieve an even more victorious life?

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The Stream Always Wins

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“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”

– Buddha, founder of Buddhism

In my early school years, most teachers would have described me as an average to good student with a bit of an attention problem. But in the eighth grade, and continuing through high school, I found a magic quality that I have used throughout my life. It’s been a key to my many successes.

I realized, through standardized testing such as the Iowa test and SATs, that I scored in the average to good range. Yet in the actual world of achievement, I could simply outwork others to achieve what I wanted.

Exercise:

Where can you apply the power of persistence to outwork others and achieve your goals?