Perseverance: Do or Do Not – There Is No Try

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

One of the most important skills that you will ever learn – and maybe it’s less a skill than it is a discipline – is to persevere.

No one who has achieved anything of merit had it handed to them on a platter.  They worked for it.  They earned it.

When you see a leader – particularly a captain of industry – who seems to have the world by the tail and makes it look effortless, know that behind that seemingly easy story of phenomenal success, is the real story of the blood, sweat and tears that it took to reach that pinnacle.

Every one who has achieved something great has had to overcome obstacles, has had to face challenges.  Some face greater challenges than others – but bottom line is that they faced challenges and determined to overcome them.

Every one who has achieved something great has had to overcome fear and doubt.  They’ve spent countless hours in conversation with themselves, wondering if they were doing it right, wondering if they had what it took, wondering when their big breakthrough was going to come…

…and then realizing that the big breakthrough was less important than the journey to the big breakthrough.

When that shift happened – when that shift HAPPENS – a decision is made.

The decision is this:  I will DO THIS.

The how might not be known, but that it will be done becomes a certainty.  And the understanding that one is willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how long it takes, and that the journey IS the point…that understanding is what fires the motivation, fuels the desire, and pushes one to reach that pinnacle.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way; where there’s not, there’s an alibi.”

Every meaningful opportunity in life will stay behind closed doors  – doors that will never open – unless you knock on them.

As Michael Josephson points out, if you can’t muster the confidence and courage to knock on more closed doors despite the certainty of frustrating and unpleasant experiences, you’ll never make it.

That’s not to say that behind every closed door is an unpleasant experience.  But you’ve got to be willing to risk it.  And for most – until you exercise that muscle – just the act of knocking on a closed door can be uncomfortable.

Remember:  Your comfort zone is your dead zone.  If you want to grow, you MUST constantly push the boundaries of your comfort zone.  Determine that you will.

You’ve got to be willing to make the journey and enjoy it.

It’s not what happens TO you…it’s what happens FOR you.  Use every experience as a stepping stone in your personal growth, and you’ll reach the summit – where the air is clearer and view is magnificent.

See you at the top!