Persistence by Jane Thurnell-Read

Persistence is a very useful quality to possess, but it can be counter-productive some times. It's important to be able to distinguish between when persistence is a positive strategy and when it's really stubbornness.

In general people with higher self esteem find it easier to persist when they meet failure. This makes obvious sense when you think about it. People with good self esteem don't see failure as the personal disaster that people with low self-esteem do.

Sometimes people use lack of persistence as a built-in excuse for failure, e.g. "Oh, of course, I failed. I didn't put the work in." The implication of this is that if the person had put the work in, they would have succedded. The lack of persistence means that they never put themselves on the line to test how clever / skilful / competent they are.

I find that one of the most important things to do in life is to distinguish clearly between the goal and the method, and to commit myself to the goal, but not the method of achieving it.

So having decided what I want to do, I then choose a way of achieving it. If that doesn't work, I try another way, and so on until I find a way that works. Of course, all the methods have to take into account my ethical views too.

If after trying several ways, I don't find one that works, I review how important the goal is to me. If the goal is really important, I carry on trying to find a way that will achieve the outcome I desire. If the goal is not that important, I put it on one side.

I may come back to it some months later and reassess the situation, or I may abandon the goal completely.

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity" Louis Pasteur