How many of us, in our minds, have envisioned our absolute end-goal, the finale of our impasssioned work? (Of course, there is always another goal after this.) However, what I hear often is “Sure, I know what I want, but I don’t know how to get there.
Enter an article in The Intelligent Optimist magazine. The writer of a feature story about persistence, Jeremy Mercer, states “how persistence — the ability to stay focused on goals despite obstacles and diversity — makes us who we are.” And I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been proselytizing these very thoughts for decades because persistence and dedication have resulted in my own successes throughout the years.
I have to laugh every time I think of a consultant who told my husband and me years ago that our fledgling record label would never gross more than $60,000 a year. As we grew to five million dollars in annual sales a few years later, I could easily see that my Yankee tenacity had paved the way for success.
Psychologists are defining a new trait as they re-evaluate the human personality system, and that is persistence. So what does persistence mean to you? For instance, if you have a goal of writing your own book, you might be saying to yourself, ‘I am writing a fascinating book but I don’t know when it will be finished.’
Persistence as a goal might say to you, ‘I want to complete my book by June 30, 2014. I will write 1,000 words each day, Monday through Friday.’ I’m sure you see the difference in possible outcomes. Or how about ‘I want to advance to head of my department sometime in the next two years. I wish my supervisor would listen to my suggestions.’ Sound pretty wishy-washy?
How about a slight persistence transition to ‘Every Monday morning I will write my manager a brief outline of my goals for the week. I will let her know that I’ll ask for support or clarification. At week’s end I will bullet point the highlights of the results and email them to her.’
As you approach your overall goal with a plan and persist with it week after week, you have the greatest opportunity to reach exactly what you desire. This week, try your own experiment.
>write your goal clearly >make a simple plan of action for the steps you will take, for the week and month >put this plan of action where you will see it all the time >day by day, stay on target — persist with your own actions
Are you nearer your goal? Are you stuck? How persistent were you? Did you give in to distractions?
University of Pennsylvania psychologists believe that “persistence is as important as intelligence.” I would love to know if this short post has given you a new perspective about persistence and reaching your heart’s desire. Let’s have a conversation. I give complimentary first sessions on your journey to the perfect strategic vision planning.
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