Perseverance

Perseverance

      This week we return to our Indicators of Success. Our third trait is perseverance. Perseverance is commitment, hard work, patience, and endurance. This is probably my favorite trait because in my experience, those who persevere succeed.

      Perseverance is developed through the principles we discussed in Elementary Leadership. Perseverance and resiliency are close in concept. Resiliency is the power to bounce back, while perseverance is the will to keep on going.

Children also learn perseverance by observing us. A few years back our babysitter reported to us that the kids staged a triathlon on the driveway. Her favorite part was when our then five-year-old implored our three-year-old that “you have to persevere when you get tired” concluding with “Dad didn’t walk in the Ironman when he got tired.”

As a high school wrestler, my favorite verse was Galatians 6:9 “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Hard work always succeeds, although we don’t always know when or where. Perseverance is the best insurance we have in pursuing our goals.

Good old fashioned “stick-to-itiveness” won’t let you fail. Failure happens when you quit. As the old saying goes, success is when you get up just one more time than you have been knocked down. Perseverance is trying again and again. It’s a lesson many of us need to revisit in our adulthood.

As a reminder, I have hanging outside the door of my office this quote:

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will

solve the problems of the human race.

 Calvin Coolidge
30th president of US (1872 – 1933)

Never Give Up,

David