I wanted to talk about something that we must all develop in order to have sustainable success in all areas of our lives.
That trait is perseverance. Perseverance is defined in dictionary.com as an activity that is maintained in spite of the difficulties or delay in achieving success. In other words, we need to keep working. We need to trust the process, and we need to make adjustments until we achieve our desired outcome.
Right now, I am studying the mindset of tennis champion Andy Murray. One thing that has made Andy a Wimbledon Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and #1 player in the world for 2016 is perseverance.
For Andy, it did not happen overnight. Andy had to go through many heartbreaking losses in big tournament finals and watch his peers Nadal and Djokovic achieve his desired results faster. However, Andy trusted the process and kept going to work. As a result, he is a hero among Great Britain and many kids all over the world. He is a great role model to youngsters because he kept going despite all the bumps along the road.
So how do we persevere like Andy Murray and other great successes that are around us?
Here are some attributes that persevering people do:
- Know your goals. Consistently review your goals and make sure they are worth pursuing.
- Reward and celebrate along the way. What gets rewarded, gets repeated. We need to celebrate each step. That will keep us going even when we do not have the desired outcome yet.
- Stop worrying. Make sure we stay in the moment. Mark Twain once said, “I’ve suffered a great many catastrophes in my life. Most of them never happened”.
- Avoid distractions and stay on your path. Ease up on the technology. Stop indulging in social media and other useless activities. Block out some specific time that you will check social media, texts, and other tasks that get you away for a moment.
- Anticipate down the road. By preparing yourself for the next step, you avoid complacency.
- Keep asking the right questions. Better questions get you better answers to achieve your goal. It also shifts your focus as well.
- Just keep going. Having faith in the process will always pay off. As my mentor and coach Stefan James says, “Trust the Process”.
- Always remember past wins and accomplishments. When you feel it is not attainable, remember those times and moments you were able to achieve your outcome. Also, remember you are here now at this place and this time. You are a human being on earth. You have already won.