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Lesson #3: Perseverance is the Key Ingredient for Success

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Study leaders in business, the arts, government, the military, sports, medicine and in every other field of endeavor, and you’ll find they all have four things in common.

First, they had a dream to achieve something great.  Second, they made a plan for how to bring that dream into reality.  Third, they took action and put their plan in motion.  And fourth, they stuck with it and never gave up until they reached their goal.

Of those four strategies for success, I believe that the last one – perseverance – is the key ingredient in any recipe for achieving greatness.  Dreaming, planning and taking action are all terrific, but if you don’t have the will to ride up and over the inevitable pot holes, hurdles and mountains you’re going to face along the way, then what’s the point?

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

The spirit to bounce back from failure and try again despite the odds is the mark of a true champion, and every great leader has had it. Call it what you will – resolve, determination, persistence, tenacity – just know that if you really want to make your dream come true, you must decide that you’re going to stick with it no matter what and see it through to the end.

Consider these famous “failures,” and try to image what the world would be like today if they had quit before achieving their goals:

  • As a boy, Thomas Edison’s teachers called him “stupid,” and it took him over one thousand tries to create the light bulb.  A journalist once asked him what it was like to fail a thousand times.  Edison’s response: “I didn’t fail one thousand times.  The light bulb was an invention with one thousand steps.”
  • As a teenager, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school’s basketball team.  Jordan later said, “I’ve failed over and over again in my life.  That is why I succeed.”
  • A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney and accused him of lacking imagination.  “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles have strengthened me,” Disney said years later.  “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
  • “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently,” said Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, who lost all his money five times before his company was finally successful.
  • Oprah Winfrey was once fired from her job as a broadcast journalist because her boss thought she was “not fit for TV.” Today she is a multi-billionaire and one of the most influential people in the world – all because she did not give up on her dream of being on television. “Do the one thing you think you cannot do,” Winfrey said. “Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time.”

Today I want you to form a mental picture of yourself succeeding and achieving your Big Dream.  I want you to see that happy image in your mind as clearly as you could see it if it were an actual snapshot that you can hold in your hand. Now, resolve to not let that image fade.  Hold onto it no matter what happens, and know that every day you persevere and refuse to quit brings you one step closer to making that picture your living truth.

In case you missed them:

Lesson #2: Develop Your Success Strategy

Lesson#1: Follow Your Dreams

Charles P. Garcia is a founding blogger for The Americano. Charlie is an award-winning entrepreneur, decorated military officer, and bestselling author. Charlie has written two wonderful best-selling books on the leadership: A Message from Garcia and Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows.

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