PERSISTENCE your ally for breakthrough

The cause of the confusion prevailing in your mind that weakens your thoughts is the false belief that there is a power or powers outside you greater than the power within you. Stop and think about that. What keeps you from attempting greater things and reaching for the diamond ring in your life? What makes you take that great idea that could make your family financially free and bury it underneath a lot of reasons why it would never work? What stops you from that career change that would result in working in a profession you could really enjoy? There's only one thing that ever stops you from forward momentum and that is lack of persistence. When the going gets tough you quit.

James Allen expressed well what persistence is in his all time classic book called ‘As A Man Thinketh’ when he said "Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose, as he must until weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph."

From general observation you will notice that when most young children are given a puzzle to solve or put together that is especially challenging, most will make a good effort at solving it, but if unsuccessful will soon lose interest and abandon it. Some will even become angry at their failure to solve it and may throw a tantrum. Contrast that with the experienced puzzle player who proceeds to put the puzzle together with an air of certain confidence that they will complete it. They know that they have all of the pieces of the puzzle before them so it is only a matter of finding out which pieces work where and once that's done the puzzle will be complete. Putting a piece in the wrong place is not a cause for concern; it's simply another step toward putting all of the pieces in their proper place.

I think of all the times in my life when I acted like a young child in dealing with the current puzzle in my life. Instead of turning over and trying the next piece, I got angry and walked away from the puzzle, seeing the puzzle as a problem instead of as an opportunity. Napoleon Hill, author of the classic Think and Grow Rich, knew Thomas Edison and Henry Ford personally. He said of both men that the only thing that was different about them from everyone else was their persistence. This actually gives rise to an interesting thought. Where would our civilization be today if either man had treated his puzzles like the impatient young child and quitted? To the uninitiated, Thomas Edison invented the light bubble and Henry Ford invented the first automobile.

When you don't have all of the pieces of your puzzle on the table, you need to stop, identify them and get them on the table before proceeding. If, however, you've got them on the table, then take the approach of the experienced puzzle player. When they don't fit don't quit, try another piece or move them to another place. While you're at it, learn another valuable lesson from great puzzle players. They don't just enjoy completing the puzzle; they delight in putting it together.

Napoleon Hill thought persistence was a pretty important key to success that he used the word 97 times in his book Think and Grow Rich and he devoted an entire chapter to it. Some of his wisdom includes, "The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on despite all opposition, until they attain their goal. There may be no heroic connotation to the word "persistence," but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel." And that my friend is worth thinking about.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, is mainly attributable to their lack of persistence.