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The Importance Of Perseverance

My family attended the graduation of our oldest daughter from the University of Central Florida last month. Two of the many colleges at the University were holding their commencement ceremonies at that time. As I watched the ceremony, I realized this was a perfect example of the importance of perseverance.

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After the opening remarks and speakers, they began awarding degrees to the graduates. They began with the students who earned their doctorate degrees. Next, the students were awarded master’s degrees. This part of the ceremony went rather quickly. The majority of the students were earning their baccalaureate, and there were over a thousand students.

The Importance Of Perseverance

The first students to walk across the stage or the distinguished students who graduated summa cum laude and magna cum laude. There were only a few of these. I began to think that the students were the only ones who didn’t struggle during the last four years. Studying was easy for them, and they probably didn’t change majors. The rest of the students understood the importance of perseverance.

I was not a good student in college. Consequently, I changed my major five times before I found one that interested me. I struggled and was plagued by procrastination, fear, uncertainty, lack of motivation, and even depression. Failing so many times I didn’t think I would ever complete the requirements for my degree. It took me five and a half years, but I persevered and made it.

My Daughter

My daughter struggled as well. She did not have high test scores. While her friends were attending a university she had to attend a local state college. After a very poor start and a “come to Jesus” meeting with me, she did well. She was supposed to stay at the state college for two years. Before completing her first year, she reapplied and was accepted for the fall semester at the University of Central Florida.

importance-perseverance-college-graduation-two-girls
So Proud!

At UCF, her struggles did not end. She had difficulty finding a major that suited her. She would procrastinate in courses that did not interest her. Her grades reflected her effort. Finally, she found her niche in kinesiology, and she excelled. She told me later that she almost quit more than once because it got too difficult. Something inside her would not let her, and eventually, she found her passion. She understood the importance of perseverance.

Reflections

As I sat in the arena waiting for the ceremony to begin, I began to reflect on her life. I was reliving important events of her childhood. I remembered the day she was born, her accomplishments on sports teams, and her high school graduation.

As the music began playing, signaling the start of the ceremony, I remembered a phone call I received. It was from her and she was screaming into the phone. I couldn’t understand what she was saying and thought something bad had happened. Then I understood the words, “Dad, I got in, I got accepted to UCF.”

As the processional of graduates continued, we finally spotted her walking into the arena. I could not have been prouder. It wasn’t that she earned her degree. A degree is not a guarantee of a good job or better life. I was proud because she didn’t quit. She conquered all obstacles.

Never Quit

I’m sure many other graduates went through equally difficult times. They all have one thing in common; they didn’t quit. The sheepskin that all graduates have does not mean that they are smarter or better than anyone who doesn’t have one. It stands for accomplishing what they set out to do four years before. That is the importance of perseverance.

Cites

https://unsplash.com/@city_child

4 Steps To Becoming Persistent

I am continuing to talk about the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Today I will discuss the eighth step, Persistence, The Sustained Effort Necessary To Induce Faith. Once you turn belief into faith you will become unstoppable. Faith is an essential ingredient to accomplishing your goals and dreams. These 4 steps to becoming persistent will change your life.

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Persistence

Hill states that persistence is an essential factor in changing desire into its monetary equivalent. The basis of persistence is willpower. Titans of industry are often described as cold-blooded and ruthless. This is because they have the willpower to obtain their objectives. Henry Ford was described this way because of his habit of following through on all his plans with persistence.

Most people will quit and give up on their dreams at the first sign of failure. They lack the willpower and persistence to carry on when things are not going well. Many people are motivated to change their situation, but few have the discipline to work at it day after day without seeing results. The small percentage who live on their terms and have achieved financial independence have persistence.

Your WHY

These are the ones who begin with a desire to change their lives. They have a reason to make that change, the WHY. If their WHY is big enough, they will fight through every obstacle and be persistent in the pursuit of their desire. Persistence, when nothing seems to be working, will build the belief that they can change. As they continue being persistent, their belief will turn into faith. The ones who quit will never know what it is like to have faith. What does persistence mean? It means working on your plan every day until you build faith.

What To Do?

So what do you do if you are weak in persistence? Firstly, you can set up a schedule and make sure that you work toward your desire every day. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Probably the best method of becoming persistent is to set up a mastermind group. A person or persons in your group will help you stay on track. The group will be able to keep each other accountable.

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Some Days I Feel Like This

Your Group

At the beginning of the year, I was very persistent. I was working towards my goals every day. One of the members of my mastermind group and I formed an accountability circle. We would talk every Monday and discuss the things we did during the week towards accomplishing our goals. It made persistence very easy because neither one of us wanted to disappoint the other. What does persistence mean? It means forming a mastermind group to keep each other accountable and on track.

There is no substitute for persistence. It is important to remember at the beginning of your journey towards change. In this time, when everything is difficult and slow, you might experience many failures. Through persistence, you recognize these failures as steppingstones to success. It will keep you from becoming disheartened and giving up, which is the ultimate failure.

Money Mindset

To obtain wealth or financial freedom, you will have to develop a money mindset. If you are struggling financially, it is because you have a poverty mindset. You focus more on bills and debt than you do on ways to increase your income. A money mindset is developed through persistent effort. Thinking, speaking, and visualizing your financial freedom daily will change your situation.

Our subconscious mind works every day, all day. It is working when you are sleeping, and it is working when you are awake. It is picking up your words and thoughts and translating them into your reality. To change your reality, you must be persistent in your words and thoughts. Speaking positive affirmations and wealth affirmations every day will reprogram your subconscious mind.

Discovery

Persistence will lead to the discovery of new techniques and strategies in which to accomplish your desire. Persistent thoughts of wealth will lead to direct discoveries via the Internet or books etc. It will also lead to indirect discoveries such as social media posts, emails, meeting new people, etc. Being persistent in pursuing your desire will open you up to the unlimited universe we live in.

4 Steps To Becoming Persistent

Hill describes four simple steps to develop the habit of persistence. These four little steps can have an enormous change in your lifestyle. The four steps are:

  1. A WHY. Your definite purpose is coupled with a burning desire to accomplish it.
  2. A definite plan to which you consistently apply action.
  3. Closing your mind to all negative and discouraging influences.
  4. Allying with one or more persons to keep you accountable.

That is it; that is all it takes to develop a habit of persistence. Once you develop this habit, your belief will grow until you develop faith. When you know the feeling of faith you will know that nothing can stop you from achieving your desire. Your life is going to change for the better; it is just a matter of time. Do these 4 Steps To Becoming Persistent. What is the meaning of persistence? It’s quite simple. Persistence equals SUCCESS.

Cites

https://unsplash.com/@brett_jordan

https://unsplash.com/@marcuslofvenberg

persistence-means-climbers-snowy-mountain

What Does Persistence Mean?

I am continuing to talk about the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Today I will discuss the eighth step, Persistence, The Sustained Effort Necessary To Induce Faith. Once you turn belief into faith you will become unstoppable. Faith is an essential ingredient to accomplishing your goals and dreams. What does persistence mean?  These 10 quotes will help you discover the meaning of persistence.

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The Meaning Of Persistence

Hill states that persistence is an essential factor in changing desire into its monetary equivalent. The basis of persistence is willpower. Titans of industry are often described as cold-blooded and ruthless. This is because they have the willpower to obtain their objectives. Henry Ford was described this way because of his habit of following through in all his plans with persistence.

“The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one time more.”
~ Thomas Edison

“The most essential factor is persistence – the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”
~ James Whitcomb Riley

Most people will quit and give up on their dreams at the first sign of failure. They lack the willpower and persistence to carry on when things aren’t going well. Many people are motivated to change their situation but few have the discipline to work at it day after day without seeing results. The small percentage who live on their terms and have achieved financial independence have persistence.

Belief Will Build Faith

These are the ones who begin with a desire to change their lives. They have a reason to make that change, the WHY. If their WHY is big enough, he will fight through every obstacle and be persistent in the pursuit of their desire. Persistence, when nothing seems to be working, will build the belief that they can change. As they continue being persistent, their belief will turn into faith. The ones who quit will never know what it’s like to have faith. What does persistence mean? It means working on your plan every day until you build faith.

“Success has a price tag on it, and the tag reads courage, determination, discipline, risk taking, perseverance, and consistency – doing the right things for the right reasons and not just when we feel like it.”
~ James M. Meston

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
~ Babe Ruth

What If I Am Not Persistent?

So what you do if you are weak in persistence? Firstly, you can set up a schedule and make sure that you work toward your desire every day. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Probably the best method of becoming persistent is to set up a mastermind group. A person or persons in your group will help you stay on track. The group will be able to keep each other accountable.

“I do not think they is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”
~ John D. Rockefeller

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”
~ Buddha

At the beginning of the year, I was very persistent. I was working towards my goals every day. One of the members of my mastermind group and I formed an accountability circle. We would talk every Monday and discuss the things we did during the week towards accomplishing our goals. This made persistence very easy because neither one of us wanted to disappoint the other. What does persistence mean? It means forming a mastermind group to keep each other accountable and on track.

persistence-means-window-sign

No Substitute

There is no substitute for persistence. This is very important to remember at the beginning of your journey towards change. In this time when everything is difficult and slow, you might experience many failures. Through persistence, you recognize these failures as steppingstones to success. This will keep you from becoming disheartened and giving up which is the ultimate failure.

To obtain wealth or financial freedom you will have to develop a money mindset. If you’re struggling financially, it is because you have a poverty mindset. You focus more on bills and debt than you do on ways to increase your income. A money mindset is only developed through persistent effort. Thinking, speaking, and visualizing your financial freedom daily will change your situation.

“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.”
~ Bjorn Borg

“Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
~ Napoleon Hill

The Subconscious Mind

Our subconscious mind works every day all day. It’s working when you’re sleeping and it’s working when you’re awake. It’s picking up your words and thoughts and translating them into your reality. To change your reality you must be persistent in your words and thoughts. Speaking positive affirmations and wealth affirmations every day will reprogram your subconscious mind.

Persistence will lead to the discovery of new techniques and strategies in which to accomplish your desire. Persistent thoughts of wealth will lead to direct discoveries via the Internet or books etc. It will also lead to indirect discoveries such as social media posts, emails, meeting new people, etc. Being persistent in the pursuit of your desire will open you up to the unlimited universe we live in.

“History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeat.”
~ B. C. Forbes

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.”
~ Marina Wright Edelman

4 Simple Steps

Hill describes four simple steps to develop the habit of persistence. These four little steps can have an enormous change on your lifestyle. The four steps are:

  1. A WHY. Your definite purpose coupled with a burning desire to accomplish it.
  2. A definite plan in which you consistently put action to.
  3. Closing your mind to all negative and discouraging influences.
  4. Forming an alliance with one or more persons to keep you accountable.

That is it, that’s all it takes to develop a habit of persistence. Once you develop this habit your belief will grow until you develop faith. When you know the feeling of faith, you will know that nothing can stop you from achieving your desire. Your life is going to change for the better, it’s just a matter of time. What’s the meaning of persistence? It’s quite simple. Persistence equals SUCCESS.

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Cites

https://unsplash.com/@henrip

“Persistence, The Sustained Effort Necessary To Induce Faith” Think and Grow Rich: The Complete Classic Text, by Napoleon Hill, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2008, pp. 217-242.

Perseverance Is The Key To Success

Do you ever wonder, why isn’t anything easy? Wouldn’t it be so nice if we could go through life without any struggles? Especially during these trying times in which we are currently living. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen because life itself is a struggle and it takes strength and perseverance to get by. People who succeed in life are persistent. They learn how to improvise, adapt, and overcome. This is a phrase that Clint Eastwood made famous in his movie, Heartbreak Ridge. Perseverance is the key to success.

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Perseverance Is The Key To Success

You can’t get something great without giving something up. The struggles that we go through are necessary in order to accomplish our goals. God presents these struggles to us and we must learn to overcome them. Even though our struggles seem mighty, God never gives us more than we can handle. Whatever you’re going through, rest assured that it’s already inside you to overcome that struggle. The comedian Steve Harvey talks about his struggles when he first tried to make it in comedy. Looking at him now you would never know that he had to live in his car for three years while he was struggling to make it. He persevered and now leads an abundant wealthy lifestyle. He had no idea how long it would take him to achieve his goals.

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Photo by David Gavi on Unsplash

Persevere, Your Struggles Don’t Last Forever

We must persevere because our struggles don’t last forever. As I said earlier, they can never be too hard because God never gives us more than we can handle. If you improvise, adapt, and overcome, you will come out stronger and better. You can have the life you always wanted. In order to persevere, you must have a definitive purpose, a big WHY. This will get you through when it gets too hard, and you don’t feel like it’s worth the struggle. Do a little bit every day to get you closer to your goals and always keep moving forward, never go back. A great book to read on perseverance is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

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Are you hurting right now? Is life kicking you in the teeth and every day is a struggle?  We are all going through tough times these days and no one knows when it will end.  All we can do is improvise, adapt, and overcome. Set your goals, make a plan, and put action to that plan. Find your definitive purpose and if you don’t have one, ask. It will be shown to you. Keep things simple and form a team of people who will support you until your struggle ends. Were all in this together and we will need the help of each other to get through. Perseverance is the key to success.

Credits:

Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash

Photo by David Gavi on Unsplash

Persistence Equals Success – Ep 19

This is one of my most important podcasts, Persistence Equals Success – Ep 19. In this podcast, I talk about the importance of being persistent. Anyone who has accomplished anything has had to persist through some tough times. They learned to embrace their failures.

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Persistence Equals Success – Ep 19

In my post, Success Doesn’t Wear a Watch, I talked about the WHY, and how your WHY HAS to be big and emotional. You have to dig down deep to pull out your WHY. Why do we want to do anything? Why did I want to start a new business doing something I’ve never done before? At my age, why would I tackle something that I had no experience doing, or, I thought, that I had no skills to be good at it? I had to keep asking myself WHY, over and over again, until I found the answer.

My answer came from deep down, it was emotional. I felt that millions of people could use my knowledge, experiences, and lessons that I have learned while traveling around the sun 59 times. That is my WHY. I will help millions of people to be happier, lead better lives, and pull out those gifts from God that everyone is born with. In turn, every person that I help will help millions of others. When I take my last trip around the sun, I will do it with a smile on my face knowing that I played this game of life and I have left it all out on the field.

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Persistence

I have gotten to where I am and will get to where I’m going all because of one word, persistence. I just kept moving forward. You see, the journey to accomplishing your goals and being successful is not linear. It doesn’t happen in a straight line. You move up, then you stumble. You get back up, brush yourself off, and start off again. Some days I get out of bed and I feel so energetic that I don’t think my feet touched the ground all day and I take great leaps forward. Other days I move forward in smaller steps and there are few days where my journey gets blocked and they make no progress.

Goals

My journey to where I got to today has followed this path: set a goal; make a plan; work the plan; fail; learn; redirect my efforts; success. This path repeats the failures become less frequent, my learning increases, my plan becomes better, and I succeed. You will face a similar path on your journey to success. I believe the number one attribute that you need to have in order to succeed is persistence. You just have to continue to work your plan persistently until you see small victories.

If you are persistent and you will rejoice in your failures instead of using them as reasons to quit. You will start to look at failures as opportunities and you will learn from each failure. Take the lessons you learn, look at your plan, and rework it if necessary. Look deep inside yourself and make sure you are doing everything you need to be doing to succeed.

Great Quote

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not. The world is filled with educated derelicts. PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION ALONE ARE OMNIPOTENT.”

-Calvin Coolidge

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Here We Go!!

This Train Is Moving On. You Can Get On, You Can Get Off, But The Train Keeps Moving On! We Are Going To The Top Of The Mountain!

I hope you enjoyed my podcast, Persistence Equals Success – Ep 19. If so, leave a comment below and let me know. I always enjoy reading your comments. As always, I appreciate all the likes and follows. Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list. Just click on the button above and leave your email address. Also, my courses are out and you can check them out here or above.

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Quotes to Keep You From Quitting

How many of you would agree with me that quitting is good? Wouldn’t everyone like to be known as a quitter? Well, sometimes quitting is good. As long as you’re talking about quitting smoking, I would like to be known as a quitter. The definition of quitting is to give up or resign. There are certain things that you need to give up to live a healthy life, such as overeating. If you’re in a stressful, unenjoyable job, you should look for another. You need to quit the bad habits in your life. These motivational quotes to keep you from quitting will get you over all obstacles.

“It’s always too soon to quit.”
~ Norman Vincent Peale

“Age wrinkles the body; quitting wrinkles the soul.”
~ Douglas MacArthur

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Quitting Quotes To Move Forward

At times, you have to quit to move forward. Hanging around the wrong people will hold you back. You have to quit them. When I first started my blog I wrote a post about quitting. I wanted to revisit that post and talk a little more about the idea of quitting. I hope these inspirational quotes about quitting will help you fight on when the urge takes hold of you.

“Never give up. If you want to be something, be conceited about it, give yourself a chance. Never say you are not good, that will never get you anywhere. Set goals, That’s what life is made of.”
~ Mike McLaren

“You’re never a loser until you quit trying.”
~ Mike Ditka

We talked about when it’s good to give up bad habits. Now let’s talk about what happens when you make that decision to change for the better. Why can’t you quit and go back to your old lifestyle? For one, once you quit on a major decision, it becomes a habit. A bad habit. Now, to accomplish anything, you have to quit the habit of quitting. Wow, I am getting dizzy.

Move Those Mountains

Habits

Once the habit is developed it becomes the easiest thing you will do. It becomes easier every time you do it. You will never attempt anything hard ever again. Every time something becomes difficult, you will quit. Here is a lesson I learned early on and have passed it on to my children. Life is hard and it is not fair. You must learn to persevere and drive on when everything in your mind is telling you to give up. This always reminds me of the line in the movie A League of Their Own. One of Tom Hanks’ players told him she was crying because it was hard. Hanks’ character replied, “Of course it’s hard, that’s what makes it great.” What a great quote to keep you from quitting.

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.”
~ Napoleon Hill

“Most people who succeed in the face of seemingly impossible conditions are people who simply don’t know how to quit.”
~ Robert Schuller

You must have a strong mindset to change your lifestyle, become more self-confident, and be successful. A strong mind is always looking to grow. If you can develop your mind into a growth mindset, you will not quit. Imagine if plants quit growing when the conditions get hard. We would have no food. When the rains do not come their roots continue growing, searching for water. They will sustain themselves until the rains return.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
~ Conrad Hilton

40% Rule

The Navy SEALs have what they call a 40% Rule. The 40% Rule says that when your mind is telling you that you are done, you have used only 40% of your energy. You have so much more inside of you and can keep going. I utilized this mindset in completing The Murph Challenge on Memorial Day. Some science backs up the 40% Rule. In a 2008 study, subjects were given a placebo and told it was caffeine. Other subjects were given caffeine. Both subjects then lifted weights. The subjects that were given the placebo lifted significantly more weight than the subjects given caffeine.

“No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.”
~ Napoleon Hill

“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.”
~ Ross Perot

If you’ve decided to do anything significant, at some point you will think about quitting. We have all been there. These thoughts are at their greatest frequency just before you are about to have a breakthrough. All you have to do to be successful is turn the corner or take another step. If you just drive one more mile you will find the answer. If you ever get to the point where you’re considering giving up and returning to your old lifestyle, think of WHY you wanted to change.

One of the Best

“Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers.”
~ Jack Canfield

How Do We Keep Going?

How do we keep going when it becomes too difficult? We have to start with the WHY. You must remember WHY you started. You will never quit if your WHY is big enough. I talk about this a lot in my posts because I believe in its importance. Your WHY has to come from deep down inside of you. It should scare you. Success should be your only option. Choke out your “Doubt Demons” when they show up. Immediately replace any thoughts of failure with thoughts of success.

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
~ Ella Fitzgerald

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”
~ George Allen

Rely On Others

Another way to keep from quitting is to form your team. It is a lot easier to quit on yourself than it is to quit on others. If you have family members who believe in you, make a commitment to them. You will get it done. Be honest with your teammates and rely on each other. Help everyone pull through the difficult times. We are all in this together and together we will win. Crush all obstacles in your way. As an individual and as a team you’re always moving forward. Be happy with the small victories and win the day. I like to think of it like a sports team. Before you can win the game you have to win each play. In football, you win the quarter. In cricket, you win the inning, and in soccer you win the half.

“Before success comes in any man’s life, he’s sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That’s exactly what the majority of men do.”
~ Napoleon Hill

Keep Moving Forward

To reiterate, when you make that life-changing decision at some point you will think about quitting. Whatever you decide to do is going to seem harder than you originally thought. The thoughts of quitting will permeate your brain if you do not have a strong mindset. Always remember WHY you started, lean on your teammates, and always move forward. Like the movie character, Rocky Balboa said, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.” So when life hits you hard, take it, smile, and keep moving forward.

Churchill

Final Thoughts

Have you ever gotten to the point where you felt like quitting? What did you do to break through and succeed? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts. If you have any tips on not giving up I would like to hear them. Subscribe to my email list by clicking on the blue button above and receive my checklist to keep you moving forward in attaining your goals.

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“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

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Becoming An Expert Has Advantages

Would you like to be considered an expert in your field? Who wouldn’t?Becoming an expert in your field comes with some nice perks. What are some of the advantages of being known as an expert? 

  1. You can charge a higher rate.
  2. People have more confidence and trust in you.
  3. It’s easier to grow your client list.
  4. It helps in marketing what you have to offer.
  5. Etc.

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
~  G.K. Chesterton

“You can do anything as long as you have the passion, the drive, the focus, and the support.”
~ Sabrina Bryan

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Successful People Are Experts

In one of my post-retirement lives I consult for an expert witness. He is an expert in premises liability and policing. He is considered an expert because of the decades of experience he has in his field. Also, he has written several books and papers on the subject of law enforcement. Because of this, he has been certified as an expert by courts throughout the United States. It allows him to charge more and his phone is ringing off the hook.

“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.” ~ Steve Jobs

“You can’t fake passion.” ~ Barbara Corcoran

People who are considered experts in their field are also some of the most successful. Author Stephen King is an expert in the genre of horror fiction. If you wanted to begin writing horror fiction novels, he would be a good source. In the field of business, Richard Branson would be considered an expert. He has taken a small record store and turned it into several other highly successful businesses. When I’m thinking about American football one name comes to mind, Tom Brady. Because of his success, he would be considered an expert on being a quarterback as well as on becoming a champion.

Always Pointing Forward

Put In The Work

The thing about becoming an expert and being successful is there are no shortcuts. I know today, living in our fast food society, we want everything right now. Unfortunately, striving to be the best takes time. No one is born an expert. Your gift is inside you when you’re born but you must develop that gift. Becoming an expert only happens through training and experience. For instance, It is said that to be an expert at anything you must do it repeatedly for at least 10,000 hours. As an example, when I was a Special Agent with DEA, I was considered an expert in narcotics trafficking and smuggling techniques. I didn’t have that knowledge when I was hired or even after I graduated from the Academy. It took many years of studying and experience to become an expert.

“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” ~ John C. Maxwell

“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” ~ Bishop T.D. Jakes

Above, I have listed some of the benefits of being known as an expert. These are reasons why we are willing to put in the required time and sacrifice. It takes more than just putting in the time. It takes passion. Passion is what lights the fire. To be passionate about something gets you out of bed in the morning. It keeps you going when you run into the obstacles and things get hard. This is the reason you need to have a big WHY. You have to be passionate about your WHY.

Grit

It also takes Grit, what I call perseverance. It’s only through being persistent that you will ever become successful. All experts are willing to persevere through the struggles and conquer every obstacle presented to them. They do everything they can to move forward. Some days are giant leaps, some days are small steps, but they are always forward. Successful people know that the bigger the obstacle, the harder the struggle, the closer they are to victory. They embrace those difficult days.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”
~ Anthony J. D’Angelo

Growth Mindset

Becoming an expert also requires a growth mindset. The importance of this trait cannot be understated. You must always be growing mentally. You must continually be thinking of your end result and not what is happening at the moment. This will allow you to continually look for ways to improve. You are always moving forward.

“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.”
~ Denis Diderot

 “Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.” ~ Jon Bon Jovi

When I was in the Army, we learned how to make defensive positions, a.k.a. foxholes. When you first arrive, you dig a small hasty defensive position in case you are attacked. Then you begin to dig your foxhole. After the foxhole is dug, and mounds of dirt are placed in front to stop any bullets, you camouflage it. You are constantly looking to improve your foxhole and make it more protective. The longer you’re at that position, the more elaborate and protective it becomes. You are always looking to improve it. You have to do the same with your mindset.

Team

It also takes a team to help you become an expert. Your team becomes your family and will help you persevere. One of the members of your team can become your mentor. Your mentor will teach you what you need to know to succeed. They will be your guide on your journey. Your team must consist of like-minded individuals. They are there to guide you and support you through the difficult times. They must be positive and have the same passion as you do. A negative member of your team can destroy it. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Teamwork

Habits Of Successful People

As I was conducting research for this post, I realized that successful people tend to have the same habits. In his book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill spent 20 years studying the richest and most successful men in America at that time. He came up with 13 qualities that all these men shared. I came upon an article on the website weekplan.net which lists 50 habits of successful people. Here are a few of those habits.

  1. They are early risers.
  2. Meditation is a daily activity.
  3. They have a love of reading.
  4. They spend time on focused thinking.
  5. Exercise is a part of their day.
  6. Their network contains like-minded individuals.
  7. Goal setting is a must.
  8. They don’t rely on a single source of income.
  9. Avoiding things that waste time.
  10. They consider problems as gifts.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” 
~ Albert Einstein

Final Thoughts

This is only a few of the habits that successful people share. If you are not where you want to be in life, go through this list and see which habits you need to acquire. Leave a comment below and let me know how you have changed your habits. Subscribe to my email list by clicking on the blue button above and receive my checklist to keep you moving forward in attaining your goals.

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All Aboard!!

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

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Sources Cited:

“50 Habits of Successful People.” Week Plan, 16 Aug. 2019, weekplan.net/50-habits-of-successful-people.

Sigmundsson, H., et al. “The Passion Scale: Aspects of Reliability and Validity of a New 8-Item Scale Assessing Passion.” New Ideas in Psychology, Pergamon, 4 July 2019, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X19300625.

Persistence

In my last post, Success Doesn’t Wear a Watch, I talked about the WHY, and how your WHY HAS to be big and emotional. You have to dig down deep to pull out your WHY. Why do we want to do anything? Why did I want to start a new business doing something I’d never done before? At my age, why would I tackle something that I had no experience doing, or, I thought, that I had no skills to be good at it? I had to keep asking myself WHY, over and over again, until I found the answer. My answer came from deep down, it was emotional. I felt that millions of people could use my knowledge, experiences, and lessons that I have learned while traveling around the sun 59 times. That is my WHY. I will help millions of people to be happier, lead better lives, and pull out those gifts from God that everyone is born with. In turn, every person that I help will help millions of others. When I take my last trip around the sun, I will do it with a smile on my face knowing that I played this game of life and I have left it all out on the field. Persistence will get me there.

I have gotten to where I am and will get to where I’m going all because of one word, persistence. I just kept moving forward. You see, the journey to accomplishing your goals and being successful is not linear. It doesn’t happen in a straight line. You move up, then you stumble. You get back up, brush yourself off, and start off again. Some days I get out of bed and I feel so energetic that I don’t think my feet touched the ground all day and I take great leaps forward. On other days I move forward in smaller steps and there are a few days where my journey gets blocked and they make no progress. My journey to where I got to today has followed this path: set a goal; make a plan; work the plan; fail; learn; redirect my efforts; succeed. This path repeats the failures become less frequent, my learning increases, my plan becomes better, and I succeed. You will face a similar path on your journey to success. I believe the number one attribute that you need to have in order to succeed is persistence. You just have to continue to work on your plan persistently until you see small victories. If you are persistent and you will rejoice in your failures instead of using them as reasons to quit. You will start to look at failures as opportunities and you will learn from each failure. Take the lessons you learn, look at your plan, and rework it if necessary. Look deep inside yourself and make sure you are doing everything you need to be doing to succeed.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not. The world is filled with educated derelicts. PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION ALONE ARE OMNIPOTENT.”

-Calvin Coolidge

Everyone who has ever accomplished anything has been persistent. Thomas Edison went through thousands of failed experiments before he invented the light bulb. Sir James Dyson went through over 5000 prototypes before he perfected his best-selling vacuum cleaner. Famous author, Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times before it was published. King actually quit writing and threw the manuscript in the garbage. Luckily, his wife retrieved it and he persisted until he became a published author. We look at successful people as they are after they become successful. What we don’t see is what it took for them to succeed. If we could meet them before they are famous, then we would see they are no different than you and me. They were just persistent. They believed in their dream and they worked at it every day. They went through failures, just like us, they learned from them and kept going. If you’re WHY is big enough you will be persistent. You will do something, fail, learn, get up and keep moving forward. Be persistent in your daily activities until you succeed.

We went on an operation in the jungle to destroy a cocaine lab that was in a very remote place. The jungle was so thick that the helicopters couldn’t drop us off close to the alleged location of the lab. They hovered several feet above a cocoa field on the top of a ridge. We jumped out and headed down a very steep embankment. The ground was soft and it was hard to stay on our feet. When we got to the bottom of the ridge, we entered the thickest, darkest jungle I had seen. Everything you touched was wet and covered in insects. As we walked in a small stream, I placed my hand on a fallen tree to steady myself as I ducked under it. I immediately felt the burning sensation of thousands of ant bites. We searched for the lab for over an hour to no avail and realized that the informant had lied to us. We were all exhausted but still had to make the climb to the top of the ridge where the helicopters could pick us up. I had carried a lot of explosives in my bag that day and had planned on getting rid of them by blowing up the lab. Since there was no lab to use the explosives on,  I had to carry all that weight back up the ridge. As I climbed the ridge got steeper and at one point I was on my belly grabbing anything I could to pull myself a little higher. At one point I grabbed what I thought was a plant and begin pulling myself up. It wasn’t a plant, but a root that came out of the ground and jabbed me in the eye puncturing a hole in my eyelid. On top of being exhausted, I now had blood in one of my eyes and couldn’t see out of it. It was only through persistence that I made it to the top of the ridge and into the helicopter where I could get patched up.

Peru 1989

Be persistent every day in your journey. Don’t let anything distract you from obtaining your goals and work on your plan every day. Remember the path to success is not a straight line in, there will be road bumps along the way. If you fail, smile, remember your WHY, learn from your failure, and know you are close to your success. BE PERSISTENT.