Think and grow rich | Day 6
Persistence is Key
Welcome back to Imagine Money, a short daily lesson to help us all think better so we can live better. This week we're reading the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Last time we discussed Imagination, today we are looking at persistence.
Here is how Hill explains it: "Persistence is the essential factor into transmuting desire into its financial equivalent... Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence, you will win."
Hill tells the story of the vaudeville comedian W.C. Fields who lost all his money during the depression. He was past sixty and had no job and no income. He was so desperate for a break that he offered to work for free in a new field, the movies. Fields was persistent and knew that he would get his big break if he kept going, and he went on to star in many films and is considered a comic genius alongside Chaplin and Keaton!
Most people are ready to give up on their dreams at the first sight of failure. And yes, it is hard to continue when there are setbacks. Persistence is a quality that we need to adopt, a sustained effort to continue despite disappointments. Will power is part of persistence, and when we mix desire with willpower and add the component of persistence, nothing will stop us.
If persistence eludes you, Hill suggests using your mastermind group's 'Power' and developing your persistence muscle.
Remember that we must have a strong desire to achieve our goal. Indifference will not get you across the finishing line.
One of the greatest basketball players ever, Michael Jordan, says: "I've missed 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost 300 games. I missed 26' game-winning" shots. I failed over and over in my life, and that is why I am so successful."
Jordan used persistence to keep on going no matter the upsets. Hill believes that each setback brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage.
If things are not working out the way you expected, look at the plan you created, reconfigure it, discuss it with your power posse and begin again. Keep going with continued effort, and treat each setback as temporary.
Persistence is vital on the way to outstanding achievements. Giving up because you didn't achieve your goal in a day, a month, or a year is not an option on the way to realizing your dreams.
Let's be bold, continue with our plan of action, and the next time we are faced with disappointment, let's remember that it is temporary, and we can keep on going.
Like W. C. Fields, we can reinvent our lives no matter the setbacks.
That's all for today. Until next time, keep imagining what's possible.
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