On Cultivating Persistence

"The person of good and lawful purpose cannot fail. It only needs that he daily re-new the fire and energy of his fixed resolve, to consummate his object." (The Mastery of Destiny)

It is the great equalizer for all of those reaching for success. It overcomes lack of education, money, talent, intelligence, looks and all other seeming advantages.

President Calvin Coolidge said nothing could take its place.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

I cannot think of one victory I've ever had that I won without persistence. For a while I just thought that I had to work harder and longer than anyone else in order to achieve because nothing has ever come easy for me.

Then I really looked around and noticed that everyone else was just like me. Every mentor I've ever had and every successful person I've ever known has their own story of how persistence was the key to their success.

Here's what Bob Proctor teaches on one of the Universal Laws called the Law of Gender: "This law decrees that all seeds (ideas are spiritual seeds) have a gestation or incubation period before they manifest.

In other words, when you choose a goal or build the image in your mind, a definite period of time must elapse before that image manifests in physical results."

Coming from a family of six generations of farmers I certainly understand the gestation of a seed. In fact, one of my most favorite inspirational examples about persistence is the story of an Asian Bamboo species that even after five years of watering, weeding and fertilizing is barely visible.

Then in a span of about six weeks it grows two and a half feet a day to 90 feet and higher. It grows so fast that you can literally "hear" it growing. The question to ask is did the bamboo grow 90 feet in six weeks or did it grow 90 feet in five years?

Obviously it grew 90 feet in five years, for all the time when growth wasn't visible it was developing a massive root system that would later support it's magnificent growth.

Can you see where the current circumstances in your life are developing your massive root system? Can you see where you must continue to "fertilize" and "water" yourself even though maybe you can't see any visible changes today?

Napoleon Hill thought that persistence was such a key to success that he devoted an entire chapter to it in the classic "Think and Grow Rich."

He writes, "Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated... Before success comes in any person's life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a person, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the majority of people do.

More than five hundred of the most successful people this country has ever known, told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them."

And that's worth thinking about.