Profit from persistence

I’ve recently focused on hope and courage as keys to progress. On top of those mission-critical qualities, you also need to be persistent if you’re going to reach your highest heights.

Things don’t work out the way you’d planned. Take my hairline, for instance. It’s moving progressively away from my forehead. Do you think I planned it this way? No, life is full of disappointments, challenges and obstacles.

History tells us that Abe Lincoln lost eight elections and went bankrupt twice, but he persisted.

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, was rejected by twelve publishers. Dr. Seuss got turned down by twenty-five. Even so, they persisted.

General Douglas MacArthur was rejected by West Point not once but twice. Elvis Presley got fired by the manager of the Grand Ole Opry and was advised to stop singing. They, of course, persisted.

What’s persistence look like? Norman Vincent Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking, wrote about how one man overcame his difficulties:

“Well, first, I try to go around it. If I can’t go around it, I try to get under it. If I can’t get under it, I try to go over it, and if I can’t get over it, I just plow right through it.”

That’s the spirit. If you’ve got a dream, tap into hope, courage and persistence – and push on! Keep reaching. It’ll happen.

Please comment. I dare you.

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Courageous words to keep you moving forward

We need courage. It’s essential to growth and life. In fact, the word itself comes from the Latin “cor,” meaning heart – the essential center of our physical and emotional life.

But what if you’re not naturally very courageous?

Eleanor Roosevelt said that “you gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

And don’t assume that courageous people don’t struggle with fear. John Wayne said it this way: “Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.”

My favorite quote about courage goes like this: “Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.”

Take courage, my friend! Keep moving forward, even into the fearful, unknown places. When you reach your target someday, you’ll look back and say ‘oh yeah – it was completely worth it.”