A persistent personality comes from hard work, motivation, and commitment even in the face of adversities and setbacks.
What is the role of persistence in personality development? Achievement is not an overnight task. It relies upon relentlessness and a long time of hard work. In the late songstress Aaliyah’s song featuring Timbaland, “Try Again” she sang in part:
“…if at first you don’t succeed
Then dust yourself off and try again
You can dust it off and try again, try again...”
Many people have often got a bit too weary in this process. They become tired of trying. The project may not have recorded the progress they had expected and at the end of it all, they give up.
This displays a lack of commitment. Not committing to a project from the beginning leads people to walk away from their projects.
How to measure the extent of your persistence? Undertake a project and see how long you can keep on pushing.
Before starting a project, it is critical to ask yourself a series of questions. How long can you push on without the desirable results? For example; are you are planning to start a business? How long are you willing to go without realizing a profit?
Before starting any project in your life, you should have answers to these questions. Those answers will help you venture into a project that you might see to completion.
The major question here is not the duration of the project. But the duration of working in a vacuum without seeing positive results.
The measure of persistence relies on your patience and your desire to pursue an activity. You may need to identify whether the rewards of the activity – or from the activity will fulfill you.
Assign a “forever” value to your persistence. This would imply that you will continue undertaking the task. Not seeing positive results at the start will not cause you to give up. But, that you are not looking for results does not say that you are not expecting some. Of course, you must hope to see positive results in the foreseeable future.
Benefits of Being Persistent
Persistence is a good personality trait. Our lives are not a form of an experiment. We cannot spend the entirety of our lives starting up. But we can adopt a proper process that might help us figure out our persistence.
- A persistent personality means you will get things done even if obstacles are in your path.
- Persistent people are patient. This is because they know it is possible to reach the summit of their goals. But that summit will take time along with effort.
- A persistent personality involves desire, confidence, and commitment.
- Persistent people are adaptable and have self-discipline.
- Persistent people are open to new ideas and are flexible. Being able to tweak your path after learning a new idea or lesson helps in meeting goals.
- Being persistent can help you live a healthier lifestyle.
Facts About Persistence
Do you have a negative persistent persona and looking for a remedy? You need help to be motivated and to carry on with a persistent attitude. Here is a list of reading resources that cater to those that lack motivation and need help with being persistent.
- Develop a persistent attitude. Identify your wants and desires and be motivated. “A distinguishing attribute of those who succeed in life against those who don’t is persistence. Many has the capacity to set goals and plans toward success, yet only few succeeds, because only few stick to work on their goals and plans until it is accomplished.” – (Source: 6 Effective Ways to Become Persistent, Lifehack)
- Surround yourself with a community of motivated people. Build relationships with role models, confidantes or mentors who are highly persistent people. “Having strongly ingrained models helps persistent people sustain and motivate themselves in an environment that is not always supportive.” – (Source: 7 Habits Of Highly Persistent People, Fast Company)
- Have a time frame that is realistic and workable according to your circumstances. Setting a practical time plan helps keep you persistent. “Create a realistic schedule. The key word here being realistic. If you haven’t written down the steps you’re going to take to achieve your goals and when you expect to complete them by, it can be hard to stay on track.” – (Source: Remember, Persistence Pays Off. Stay Motivated With These 5 Tips, Entrepreneur)
- Sometimes you may try very hard to reach a goal, but become demotivated in the process. If you become discouraged find a way to revitalize and continue. “Believe in yourself. Moving forward toward your goals can be lonely. Progress requires a strong self-belief system and inner compass. We can boost our self-confidence by practicing gratitude, surrounding ourselves with positive people, reminding ourselves of how far we have come, and believing that failure isn’t an option.” – (Source: 10 Habits of Highly Persistent People, INC.)
Be Persistent Quotes
Here is a list of persistence quotes to include in your mantra or journal.
1. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou
2. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill
3. “Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” ― Roy T. Bennett
4. “Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature’s laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it’s dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.” ― Tupac Shakur
5. “You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.” ― Tom Hiddleston
6. “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” ― Thomas A. Edison
7. “First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” ― Octavia Butler
8. “Writers remember everything…especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he’ll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar. Art consists of the persistence of memory.” ― Stephen King
In Closing
In the end, we all need to see the progress we have made in our lives. Thereby you get the satisfaction of achieving the goals you had. This is only achievable if you can understand how far you can go before you commit yourself. How much you are willing to try and try again? How persistent will you be? Go ahead with a project you love. Be patient. Persistently believe it is possible to succeed.
So remember achievement is not an overnight task. It relies upon relentlessness and a long time of hard work. Your level of patience and commitment will prove your willingness to continue undertaking a task.
