Pillars of Persistence

Welcome to seeds of success. Today’s personal development will be looking at persistence. Persistence is one virtue that great achievers habitualize. It's interesting to know that people don’t give up only when they face opposition. There are three times when people give up. They could give up at the face of opposition, they could give up when they feel they have achieved a reasonable percentage of a project so they think they know how the completed version will look like, and thirdly people give up after first success. The first is common, the second is pernicious and the third is just ridiculous.

Persistence is not a natural occurring trait, but like many other virtues it is developed. Persistence is one of the key pillars of personal development but on what does persistence stand? There are three important pillars of persistence.

1. Hope: every act of persistence reclines upon a given hope. Nobody will continue giving time, effort and resources into an obviously hopeless venture. It is said that where there is life there is hope but where there is hope then there is the will and strength for persistence to hold through. But what is hope? Hope is not wishing that help will come; it is knowing it. A life to be pitied is not the one who has lost possession, family, friends, good reputation nor the one who has lost arms and legs, sight or hearing, but the one who has totally lost hope in living. Hope is a cardinal factor not only for persistence but in living.

2. A worthy goal: the achievability of a goal is determined not only by the individual whose objective it is to achieve the goal, but on the worthiness and importance of the goal. Psychologically you give yourself a reason to give up when your goal is not worth the effort, risk and resources to persist all the way in achieving it. And that way it is hard to keep up the will and strength of your persistence. For persistence to hold through the many obstacles and opposing forces, it must rest on a sure bet that the goal is worth it.

3. Habit: habits are very important determinants in the formation of character and eventually the direction of one's life. It is very important that we choose wisely and form habits consciously. People who give up don’t do so just because they like to be quitters, knowing that quitters are referred to as losers. They usually do because they have formed the habit of quitting when things seem not to be working out well. On the other hand there are others who through conscious efforts learned the discipline of not being easy quitters at the face of difficulty. Your persistence or in-persistence drives towards the direction of the habits you have built about it over time.

As you work to achieve your goals, let your persistence stand on firm pillars to pull you through the obstacles and opposition that will come your way.

Hope you enjoyed today’s blog on seeds of success. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Have a great day.

Lift Your Life By Learning

What can lift up a life from mediocrity to proficiency? What can take one from novice to expert? What makes the difference between an expert and a learner? It is that which he knows. One thing about knowing is that it comes by learning. One can only know when he learns that which he doesn’t know. What differentiates a successful person from an ineffective person is often that which he knows and applies in his business. Little wonder the bible says

my people perish for lack of knowledge

. From that statement, people don’t perish for lack of money, or because they have no one to help them, neither is it because there isn’t enough opportunity that comes their way. What you know can stand you out, however people often say that what don’t know cannot kill them thereby giving room for ignorance, but I think it actually can.

There are regular people who have taken responsibility of there life, and lifted themselves to great preferment by learning. Sometimes people break limitations in their lives by getting to learn one new skill or the other. Opportunity often comes to those who conscientiously work after it. By now I believe we already know that

success is not an accidental discharge

.

Tell me what is missing in your life and I will tell you what you do not value enough to make every effort to achieve-Mike Muddock. There is literally nothing one can’t achieve if one set one’s mind to achieve it, going at it with the right principles.

> Make a habit out of it: habits are as important as the eventual success you intend to achieve. Like I said earlier success is not an accidental discharge, you have to learn and adapt success habits that will eventually form your character; that personality that is apt to achieve success. Form the habits of learning.

> Adapt the DON’T a day habit: the savor of old age is experience, but experience doesn’t only come with gray hair. That you have experienced a situation doesn’t make you an expert in it. Learn to know, know to show yourself competent in what you do. Experience is a combination of knowledge and skill gained through doing something for a period of time. You don have to wait until you are old to gain experience. DON’T a day is an acronym for discover one new thing a day. You will eventually lift your life in the process of learning one new thing each day. form the habit of learning a new thing everyday, make notes of your discoveries, improve on it and you will be amazed by the outcome.

> Don’t learn to forget easily: what good is it when you can’t use what you learn because you forgot it. In real life situation, you apply what you know or remember. A coach said of his player that he is the only player who implements in the field of play that which he practiced in the training ground. Overcome forgetfulness with the power of repetition. Anticipate situation, pre-play and practice solution. You get to remember what you understand and repeat.

> Apply what you learn: they say no knowledge is a waste, that’s true in a sense but knowledge can get stale and obsolete. So make the most of it when you have it. What is the essence of knowledge when it cannot be applied to solve a problem or meet a need? You say there is no opportunity to utilize your skill; opportunities are created. If you have the opportunity to learn, you equally have the opportunity to lift your life.

It was written of a man who kept cows, he rode upon one of them, as it is useful in that country with a book laid on her horns that served instead of desk, and so he studied all the day. After some years he grew so learned that he took his degree and came to be a great mandarin.