Persistence: “the fact of continuing in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.” That’s from Google’s English dictionary.
The Britannica Online says something similar. Persistence is “the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people.
Last week I read an article about persistence by Derek Sivers. In case you don’t know him, Sivers worked for years in the music business and was himself a musician. Back in the late 90s he tried to get distributors to sell his music online, but they weren’t interested.
Undaunted, he made his own online store. Since PayPal didn’t exist back then, even getting a ‘buy now’ button on his website was a trial. Somehow or other CD Baby was born – and for ten years grew bigger and bigger. By the time Sivers sold it in 2008, it was worth $22 million.
He sounds like someone who’ll know a thing or two about persistence. In his article, he writes –
“As teenagers, we learned the hard way that if you contact someone and they don’t reply, they’re just not into you. If you keep trying, you must be a total loser.
But in the business world, it’s the opposite. If you don’t keep trying, you’re a loser!”
Huh.
But what about all the ‘gatekeepers’ who say no, or delete your messages, or send back generic replies saying ‘please stop contacting me’?
I guess sometimes, you do need to rethink things or try elsewhere, or work on your strategy or tactics. But in my own life I know that many good things have come about through not giving up. When I failed to get into several Drama Schools, I felt defeated. I said to my boss at the time (who himself had gone to the Bristol Old Vic Drama School) that not getting in was probably a sign.
“Nonsense,” he said. “If every drama school in the world rejects you, then maybe think again. How many has it been? Three? Four? You must carry on.”
So I did. And remain eternally grateful for his advice, for the next Drama School accepted me.
Persistence does work, at least sometimes. But to really get ahead, it needs to sink down into your bones and become not a tactic but a part of your identity. That’s what Angela Duckworth (who’s studied success for much of her adult life) calls ‘perseverance’.
Perseverance (says Google) is “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” Or as the Cambridge Dictionary has it, perseverance is ‘continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time.”
Which I take to mean that it’s a character trait, inbred or learnt, not just a one-time tactic.
For Duckworth’s book ‘Grit’, she interviewed leaders in business, art, athleticism, journalism, academia, medicine and law. They gave this feedback: ‘“Some people are great when things are going well, but they fall apart when things aren’t’”.
However, ‘”the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination…these exemplars were unusually resilient and hardworking.”’
Or to put it another way, they had the quality of perseverance.
And I agree with Duckworth, it’s essential. Not that even having perseverance guarantees anything. There are no guarantees. But those fantasies of people just happening on success – of Hollywood stars discovered in a department store and taken overnight from obscurity to worldwide fame – all those stories are just that, stories.
What’s much more important is the ability to keep on going.
Or as Duckworth says, “Don’t give up.”
If you’ve got a big vision in whatever area of your life, do let me know. If we decide to work together, our coaching may cover tactics, skills, or strategy, but we’ll probably also go deeper and look at identity.
A coach helps you see yourself as you are, blind spots, inner obstacles and all. A coach can help you look with more detached insight at the situation you’re in. And a coach can also help you to keep going when the going gets tough.
To develop perseverance.