Persistence and patience:
Essentials for following through when the going gets tough

As you can imagine, persistence is very important in reaching your goals. It relates to patience, which is also very important. Sometimes reaching goals takes much longer than you expect or things can really fall apart. This is when a dose of persistence and patience can really make the difference. You may need a vacation, a mini-break or to just keep on plugging away taking action every day. Remember that you may need to re-evaluate your direction and try different ways to get there when required.

68. Change your approach: Persistence is very important when working with goals. But sometimes you find yourself doing the same thing over and over and you aren’t getting the results you want. When this happens, try something else. In general, you want to have the attitude of “never giving up”, not allowing failure as an option, even during tough times. Keep your vision, but you may just need to change the strategies you’re using. This is a good time to get advice from people whose opinions you trust. It’s also a time to be honest about and aware of just exactly what you’re doing and how you can best change your approach.

69. Example of “persistence pays” and small improvements: You may not always know how you’ll get where you want to go but if you’re persistent, you may be surprised. Very small consistent improvements over a long period of time can make you or your company very successful...or even turn you into a black belt martial artist! Here’s an interesting story from Roger Von Oech, a well-known author, about the magic and power of persistence. Two frogs fell into a tub of cream, one gave up and drowned, the second didn’t give up; he scrambled so hard he churned the cream to butter and jumped out. You can give up and continue to get what you’ve always been getting or you can move up to a greater level of empowerment and pleasure in your life by taking the risks and persisting.

70. Don’t give up: Sometimes, after working hard to get your goal for a long period of time, when things look discouraging, you find yourself wanting to give up. This is just the critical time for you to continue taking action. Remember, “It’s often darkest before the dawn”.

71. Discipline and practice - small regular improvements: Some goals require you to commit to long-term discipline and practice. Your patience may also be tested. George Leonard, an author and accomplished martial arts teacher wrote a book about the importance of continual practice and self-discipline. One of the most important points in the book is that even when you’re on a plateau and there seems to be little or no improvement; no matter how you feel, do the practice every day. If you want to become an expert at something, especially martial arts, you have to decide to be relentless in your commitment to the self-discipline required to reach your goal.

Continue to Goal Setting Tips 72-77 - Bonus Goal Setting Tips