There are a couple of old sayings; ‘nothing worth having will come quickly’ and ‘persistence pays.’ To me these comments mean 1) success may take some additional or even extraordinary effort, and 2) working on something long enough with determination, even when difficult, will lead to success.
Persistence is continuing to put forth a focused effort to attain a goal. Abraham Lincoln’s journey to become one of our greatest United States Presidents illustrates an incredible example of persistence.
Lincoln’s Road to the White House:
Failed in business in 1831.
Defeated for the legislature in 1832.
A second business failure in 1833.
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.
Defeated for Speaker in 1838.
Defeated for Elector in 1840.
Defeated for Congress in 1848.
Defeated for Senate in 1855.
Defeated for Vice President in 1856.
Defeated for Senate in 1858.
Elected President in 1860.
Every time I look at Lincoln’s timeline I am truly amazed at what made this man ‘tick.’ It is a shame that his life ended prematurely. His efforts over that 29-year period were persistence personified.
The enablement of persistence requires courage. Fear loves to become the roadblock to exhibiting courage. Emotions emanate from our autonomic nervous system (ANS) and are essentially uncontrollable unlike our somatic nervous system. Your somatic nervous system comprises your muscle and skeletal system, and you can control it. Emotions are the involuntary output resulting from what your mind consumes.
Much like a computer, you have hardware (somatic) and software (autonomic) components. If you take good information into your brain, good emotions will come out of your autonomic nervous system.
So, how do you train your mind to reduce the fear of failure? Build confidence! You should always look to force yourself out of your comfort zone and keep growing. The best approach is to look fear square in the face and take it on. It doesn’t mean you won’t fail, but you will always be able to take something positive from it. I believe that if you continually face your fears, you will become more comfortable doing so. That is how you begin to develop persistence.
As one who has failed many times, I know that people need to fail to improve. It comes from a heart-centered desire to help others become successful, happy and motivated in their work. Because I have experienced so much failure and have had to step out of comfort and into fear, I have great empathy for others who dare to get better at what they do.
Leaders will wisely and lovingly foster a culture that encourages risk-taking. When people aren’t afraid to fail for fear of retribution, they become more confident, innovative and creative. Often, those three characteristics create long-lasting success.
President Lincoln’s persistence was a part of his DNA. Perhaps that is why he is such a highly regarded leader. He persistently practiced stepping into situations where he lost time and time again until he finally reached the top. Perhaps you are in a situation today where you need to step toward the fear that is holding you back and pursue your calling. You won’t be the first, or last to fail, so look fear in the face and use your persistence to succeed!