In recent times, there have been a lot of discussions regarding the most important factor in becoming successful.
Success in this regard is simply the achievement of your predetermined goals over the long term, whether it is to finish school or to lose weight. One’s success differs from another.
Success is measured by growth and progression. What does success look like in your life?
More than other characteristics, the results of studies have shown that the emotional makeup of a person has more influence on the person’s chances of becoming successful. These emotional characteristics include attitude, belief, perseverance, mindset, and resilience.Amongst all these characteristics, the most important ones are perseverance and resilience. What are the meanings of these words?
Perseverance simply is the ability to stay steadfast to complete a task regardless of the difficulties involved. While resilience is the ability of a person to recover from setbacks and keep working on a task. See the difference and why we need both to become successful?Why are they the most important?
For one, being perseverant and resilient are the most difficult to do. Life has a way of sometimes dealing us a difficult hand. We have to work with the hand we are dealt. You can change your mindset by picking up a self-development book from the library devouring the information contained. It’s true it’s challenging to bounce back from every challenge. But if you can do it once, you have the Resilient capacity to do it again.
Another reason perseverance and resilience are the most important qualities a person seeking success must have is that they are required in every stage of character development and the development of other characteristics. For example, to develop a solid mindset, you must be consistently persistent and resilient in learning the new mindset and unlearning the old one. Breaking those comfortable habits!
A new concept called grit has been added to the success equation. This concept was made popular by Angela Duckworth in her 2011 bestselling book of the same name. Grit is similar to both perseverance and resilience and is defined as the ability to sustain a specific level of effort towards long term goals.
Duckworth studied top military men and high performers in various industries on the road to completing the book. Among other things, she realized that the most important skill top performers possessed was the ability to keep working on their craft for long hours without giving up or switching to another field.
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Outliers” also agrees with this concept by stating that about 10,000 hours are needed to attain full mastery or autonomy in a skill, regardless of how talented the person is when they start out. Are you willing to put in the time and effort it takes to become successful? In other words, talent cannot help you if you are not resilient and perseverant.8 ways to build resilience and perseverance towards your goals.
So how do you become persistent and resilient (or gritty)?
Accept the hand you’re dealt. Don’t run from it, it’s yours to play!
Make a decision to stay committed.
Set your mind on the things that are important to you and make a commitment.
Write the plan down and make it clear.
Be very specific in what you want to accomplish. Do not leave room for “backsliding” or confusion.
Write down possible excuses and challenges that may occur during this process. Yes, if you approach your excuses and fears in the beginning, your already prepared mentally if they happen.
Always be 3 steps ahead of your excuses and fears!
Trust the Process. Nothing worth having happens overnight! Just trust that when you remain perseverant and resilient, you will win!
Self Talk. These moments are crucial! It is important to remind yourself who you are and who you desire to become. This talk is between you and you, it does not involve anyone else.
Just Do it. It does not matter what happens, just do it. Repeat the steps again until you master it. It is important that you remain resilient and perseverant, so if the first round isn’t as successful as you like, REPEAT!!!
If you wish to achieve your goals for the new year, it would be unrealistic of you to think that you will have a smooth ride. There will be challenges and setbacks, and the only thing that will set you aside from the other billion people who have new year resolutions is your ability to be persistent even in the face of challenges. Learn how to be resilient in little tasks, and you will unlock your year (and life) to unending possibilities.
