I have studied many books around success and achieving your goals in business, I have listened to lots of authors and success coaches in audio books and podcasts explain how success can be yours….if only you keep at it.
The word ‘PERSEVERANCE’ is used time and again as a key trait that has helped many achieve success in their lives. The example that sticks out for me is Anthony Robbins when he mentions Colonel Sanders and his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe. At age 65 he decided he would add more value to the World and he started selling his recipe. He pitched the recipe to 1,009 restaurant owners before he got a ‘YES’, and the rest is history. He had perseverance to keep going.
Practical Perseverance
I once shared a house in my University days with a guy who sold aerial photos to homeowners. It’s not the easiest sell to walk up and knock on people’s homes and tell them you’ve flown over and photographed their property and would they like a framed photo of it. I asked him how he kept going after getting many NOs each day – his answer was that each no was one closer to the next YES.
The example above illustrates that It’s finding the motivation that keeps you going is key to perseverance. He could have looked at each NO as evidence that the business model does not work, but instead he saw it as an indicator that he was getting closer to his next sale instead.
So what do you do to develop PERSEVERANCE?
The best solution I’ve come up with is to target the goal you want to achieve and then identify the individual tasks you need to complete to move you towards that goal.
If you’re a Sales guy and your goal is to be Top of the sales list of 100 team members this month, then a key task might be to make 20 prospect calls each day before 10am.
If you’re an author and your goal is to complete your 200 page book, then a key task might be to write 2 pages a day.
These examples illustrate some key tasks that break down the larger goal into real, tangible things you can take action on EACH DAY to move you towards your goal.
Taking ACTION enables PERSEVERANCE
The secret to perseverance is doing the small things EVERY DAY that keep you moving towards your goal. Don’t see the GOAL as a big scary thing that you can’t get your head around and it takes you too long to even consider taking action against. See it as a series of small tasks that you CAN take action on EVERY DAY that moves you forwards.
FOCUS – use the power of focus every day until you achieve success:
Follow
One
Course
Until
Success
Thanks to John Lee Dumas at Entrepreneur on Fire for the FOCUS acronym.
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