Persistence: The quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people (Merriam-Webster). Seems easy, yet so many of us fail to be persistent. Is it the lack of motivation? Possibly having the wrong group of people with you? Which ever the reason may be, there’s always a way out of it. Certain key elements factor in, to help one become persistent.

Identifying your wants and desires is the first step (6 ways).  No matter how impossible you may think it is, list all the specific things you want to accomplish.  This will narrow down all the thoughts in your head, to focus on what you truly want (6 ways).  Persistence is something you do internally, not with external goals (Altucher, James).  For example with my platter I created, I identified what I wanted to make, before ever starting it. I had many different ideas, and chose one from my list to create.

If you want to be successful with anything in life, like graduated high school, you must motivate yourself to do well in school and pass all the classes. In other words, you must find your motivation (6 ways). If you want to be successful in life, you must figure out why you are doing what you are doing.  If what you are trying to accomplish is time consuming, and you don’t have enough motivation, you will loose interest and fail.  Motivation is the crucial element in setting and accomplishing your goals (6 ways).

Outline your exact steps you need to do so you know exactly what you are working with (6 ways). Once you identify your desires, and find your motivation, you now need to make an outline.  When you know how to are going to achieve your goal, step by step, it makes it easier to do. Time management is a big factor. Knowing you can’t spend every waking minute on something is the first step. So outlining when, where, and how long you will do a specific task related to your goal will make achieving much easier. I knew everyday at school I would work on my platter, and when I realize it was taking me longer than I expected, I went into school on a Saturday, which was my back up plan. Always make a backup plan, just in case one plan doesn’t work out, you have something to fall back on.

You may have failed before, but not every attempt is the same.  Always be positive (6 ways). Once negativity controls you, you won’t be able to succeed in anything.  Being successful isn’t easy, so always stay strong.  If you have the mentality that you will fail again, chances are you are correct. Stay calm and breathe, remember that we will all fail before we succeed, we just have to keep our minds filled with positive energy.

Surround yourself with the right people (6 ways). If you allow the wrong ones into your life, they may bring you down. Surround yourself with others that can give you unbiased judgments and give you positive feedback (6 ways).  Any form of negativity will just lead you right back to the failure path. Say someone who loves to read and write wants to publish their own book, she can’t have anyone bringing them down, so if someone hates books and wants to do other things, she will loose track and never publish it. Going to reading and writing classes or seminars, or even creating her own private group of writers that meet on a weekly basis, would be surrounding herself with the correct people to help her succeed.

Being persistent is all about how to want to live your life.  If you put no effort it something, chances are slim that you will succeed. If you remember these key elements, even in your daily life struggles, then you are on your first step of being successful.

 

Works Cited:

6 ways – Macabasco, Lou. “6 Effective Ways to Become Persistent.” Lifehack RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Altucher, James. “How to Be Persistent And Get Success.” Altucher Confidential RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.