Persistence Overcomes Adversity, Leads To Success

There is a great deal of self satisfaction gained when you get past the obstacles and hurdles people put between you and your desires. 

Persistence is what frequently separates the successful from those who are not. According to Dale Carnegie, "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." As the Japanese proverb goes, "Beginning is easy ─ continuing is hard."

Too many people are ready and willing to discard their aims, desires, dreams and even purposes in life by casting everything overboard as the first signs of difficulty or misfortune manifest. They see obstacles and failures as defeats, or even worse as misinterpreted "signs" that things are not meant to be the way they had planned, hoped or dreamed.

As we mentioned in the previous blog post on Overcoming Adversity: adversity is a fact of life and it cannot be controlled or avoided. 

Persistence is all about overcoming adversity, and knowing that hardships, problems, stumbling blocks, obstacles, and difficulties are simply ways of making you a better and stronger person. After all, as the old English proverb states, "A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner."

The great Roman poet Horace, who lived just before the time of Christ, identified this characteristic of persistence, writing, "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant."

And in more modern times, Michael Jordan had this to say about dealing with problems encountered: "If you are trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them, everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Find out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

There is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from knowing that you have gotten past, through, around, over, or under the obstacles that life and other people put between you and your desires.

Additionally, a great deal of self confidence is to be gained by overcoming hardships and defeating adversaries who get in your way. As Harry Browne wrote, "When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer." 

That security is your own heightened self confidence. And when it comes to facing adversity, that is the best security to have. 

Please take 10 minutes now and write down a list of the challenges and problems you face, and what steps you can take to help you become more persistence and resilient in handling these. 

For motivational help in this area, please see our book Project You: Words of Wisdom, available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. 

This article is partially excerpted from our top-ranked personal development book, Project You: Living A Determined Life, available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon. 

Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude

Your Attitude Determines How Well You Succeed 

Some final thoughts as we conclude this series of blog posts on attitude. 

Albert Einstein said, "Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity." 

You do not need to let events, heartaches, disappointments, and worries control your life. 

John Maxwell uses a sailing analogy to demonstrate this: "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."

No matter which way the wind is blowing, you can always sail in your desired direction. As Maxwell adds, "Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its outcome more than anything else."

Highly successful college football coach Lou Holtz puts it another way, "Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you can do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

You have probably come across the phrase "your attitude determines your altitude." Although the origins of the phrase are in dispute, there is no arguing the merits of the quotation and the thinking behind it.

This is not to suggest that simply having some wide-eyed, highly optimistic attitude will get you what you desire, or is the only tool you need on the path to success. Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football, probably said it best: "The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."

There are two key aspects to a winning attitude: 1) not being afraid to fail, and 2) thinking positively. 

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, has spoken about both of these aspects:

I never look at the consequences of missing a big shot. When you think about the consequences, you always think of a negative result.

The bottom line is, while you may not be able to change the world, or the events in the world directly or indirectly impacting upon you, you can always change yourself, and your likelihood of success, by adjusting your attitude and your thinking. 

This article is partially excerpted from the best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. 

Commitment Means Commitment To Action

Learn Commitment From Michael Jordan 

One of the things that made Michael Jordan such a fierce competitor is evident from one of his most famous quotes: "I can accept failure, but I cannot accept not trying."

Part of what Jordan is talking about in that quote is having a commitment to commitment ─ the commitment to try, to act, to overcome hurdles and blips encountered on the way, to go after your goals and dreams no matter what.

Commitment is what transforms dreams, hopes, goals, and desires into reality.

Here's another quote from Jordan about commitment: "I have always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results."

This level of commitment means doing the daily things you need to do to accomplish your goals and bring your dreams to reality, even when you do not feel like it (perhaps especially when you don't feel like it).

The key is to keep your goals in mind and understand that your daily activities are a means to an end. 

For instance, if your goal is to build your upper body strength, you will need to lift weights three times a week. Now, lifting weights three times a week is not your goal (building your upper body strength is), but merely the steps required to achieve your goal. So on days you feel too tired to lift weights, you have to tell yourself "in order to achieve my goal I must do my weights workout" and "I am not too tired to pursue my goals." That is what Jordan means about putting in whole-hearted work.

Commitment requires a commitment to action. You cannot become a howling success merely by howling!

A New Year is upon us. Make a commitment to being committed and 2016 will be a year you long remember. 

This article is excerpted from the book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.