Have You Learned the Skill of Persistence?

The truth is simple. There are very few — if any — genuine cases of overnight success. The majority of successful people and businesses have dedicated themselves to a goal and persevered for a long time before reaching a high level of achievement that is finally noticed and talked about by others.

Perseverance is defined as remaining constant to a purpose, idea, or task in spite of obstacles. Some people are born with the tendency to persevere. We’ve become a society of now, now, now, but the truth is that most things worth having take a little bit of process and a lot of time.

Excellent examples: 9 Favorite Story Examples of Failure and Persistence

You shouldn’t assume that if something doesn’t manifest overnight that it won’t happen at all. In fact, you will do wonders for your personal development if you can learn to be patient, maintain faith in your own potential, and increase your perseverance. It will do wonders in driving important aspects of your career forward.

The first step in this journey is to believe in yourself and what you want to do. If you try for a goal, but in the back of your mind you don’t actually think you can accomplish it, you will wreck havoc on and sabotage your motivation.

Self-awareness is a critical part of developing perseverance. Admitting that you’re the type to give up on a goal before you’ve completed it is the first step in changing that pattern. Then, practice keeping promises to yourself by setting small goals and refusing to quit until you’ve achieved them.

The final component in enhancing your perseverance is to think positively. Because you’re human and not a cartoon character, it is difficult to have a positive attitude 100 percent of the time. When something unfortunate occurs, it’s natural to feel negative emotions like anger, frustration, and sadness at first.

But holding on to these until they result in constant depression and anxiety will make it all that much harder to persevere at a difficult goal.

Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.