Persistence.Its a concept we’ve all dealt with many times before throughout our lives.Whether it be when you’re a small child learning to ride a bike or swim,and your mom says “just keep trying you’ll get it.” Or when you’re a bit older, trying to graduate college and the work seems to be becoming a bit too much for you, but you know that all of the hard work you put in will eventually pay off.Persistence is the key to achieving your goals, small or large, it doesn’t matter.But what about those people who just seem to lack the desire to persist when the going gets tough? Is being a persistent person just something you are born with? Or is persistence a skill that can be practiced,attacked methodically,and eventually mastered? With persistence being such a desired trait in the workplace by potential employers or just in life in general, its no wonder individuals are looking for ways to perfect the skill and become more persistent beings.
There are a number of different websites you can go on to look for methods and ways to become persistent, but the one I found to layout the best argument and way persistence can be mastered was posted on lifehack.org by Lou Macabasco. His plan of mastering and becoming a more persistent individual lies on six key components,and they are to identify your wants and desires, determine your motivation, outline your definitive action step, keeping a positive mental attitude,building your mastermind group and lastly developing discipline and habit.Now, it may seem to some that Lou is trying to organize and plan out steps to a characteristic trait that can’t be aught, but when you think about it, he really is not.Essentially, he is just stating the steps that a persistent individual goes through subconsciously , and instead stating them in writing.These six steps come naturally to persistent individuals, but when a non persistent individual is given directions on how to be persistent, and with enough practice, can they not become just as persistent? Lou firmly believes that any individual can set up these steps in their own personal situation, but many don’t attain their goals because of various reasons,none of which being that they are unable to master persistence, other factors come into play.”Developing persistence is a master skill to success. It is easier to relax and do nothing, or just live in our comfort zone, rather than face the uncertainty and discomfort of sailing threw our goals. Plus, the idea of failure and hardship is unbearable.But if you want to create change in your life and achieve success, now is the time to develop and master persistence.”(Macabasco)
“Persistence is essential. In fact, persistence is one of the most important characteristics successful people share in common. There is no other way to succeed but by developing persistence in our life, and here I’d like to share seven ways to develop it.”(Latumahina) Yet another individual who believes not only in that having persistence is a quality trait that will separate you from the pack, but that it can also be an acquired skill that can be mastered with a methodical approach.His seven steps share some similarities with Lou Macabasco’s above steps, showing that a organized approach to developing persistence is starting to become accepted and preached internationally to developing minds.Developing persistence at a young age will make it easier for the individual to one day master the craft with set steps and guidelines to follow.
So is methodical,procedural,and time tasking step by step process the only way one can begin to develop persistence? Or can certain situations speed up the process, there fore giving even more proof that persistence is far from a rare trait only few have the ability to possess , and more of a universal trait that just needs to be developed and exploited to reach your individual goals? Is persistence just a tool that is buried deep deep inside your tool box that only surfaces when you have a personal desire for it? Jeremy’s situation seems to support this as he states “A few months into the shop, I began to realize how I needed to get my rear in gear or I was going to fail. This is where my persistence began to come through.” (Souza) Did he lack the trait of persistence, or was it just waiting to be used? I think the latter is true.Persistence is a trait that not only everyone possesses internally,but also is a skill that everyone can develop and master when the need for it arrives.Some have long-term goals that give them time to methodically develop there persistence, while others , like Jeremy , need that persistence to peek through so they can grab it and run with it.Both scenarios require a mastering of skills and a set steps for attaining persistence, but each proves the overall theory: Persistence is not just an acquired trait,something only a select few are born with and can use.But instead, it is a tool that is in everyone’s tool belt.Everyone can develop and harness their own personal persistence.All it takes is a plan,and a need for that ever valuable tool called persistence.
Works Cited
Lathumahina, Donald. “7 Sure-Fire Ways To Develop Persistence” Lifeoptimizer.org. 19 Nov. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2014
Macabasco , Lou. “6 Effective Way to Become Persistent” LifeHack.org. 4 Aug. Web. 7 Mar. 2014
Souza, Jeremy. “Forced Persistence” jsouza99.edublogs.org
Edublogs 2014. 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014