PERSEVERANCE

The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling.
– Lucretius

If you read the success stories of great persons, you will find one common denominator which decided their success: perseverance. They continued their efforts regardless of intermediary results. They honestly wanted to achieve and strongly believed in their process. They worked very hard, focused on the end result, persevered, and finally reached their goal.

On the other hand, those who did not achieve great things also worked hard, but the difference was in the quality of their perseverance. Sometimes their effort level was intense, and on some other times it was not so. They were not consistent in their effort level. Their hard work was marked by ebbs and flows. Success means continuously improving our effort level by repeating our strategy and not by working very hard.

If you see how a person becomes an expert in music, you will understand this principle. They practise consistently every day. It is not how much they practised on any one day. There is a saying: ‘repetition is the mother of skill’. The same applies to life also.

Over this weekend, identify one task which you want to accomplish over the next 90 days and check how consistent you are on your effort level – no matter how hard you have been working on any particular day.
 
(From my book 'Arise, Awake and Take Charge')
 

N C Sridharan
www.thetimefoundation.com
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