| Good Sunday morning friends, As this year gets into full-swing, I’ve been seeing and hearing so many posts that repeat the mantra that in order to succeed, you have to persist, keep going, stay in the game (or some variation of this). And while I believe this is true to some extent, what we forget in all this persistence-talk is that while persistence is *necessary* it is not *sufficient* for success. Because sometimes no matter how long we do something, no matter how many times we pick ourselves back up, no matter how dogged our determination we *don’t* get the result we want. Because there are so many other factors outside of our control – markets, customers, laws, technology, social norms, the vagaries of life… just to name a few! – that affect the outcome. So why should we keep going even if success is NOT guaranteed (and it never is)? Because the alternative to persisting is giving up: on our dreams, our ambitions, our craft, our goals, whatever it is that we are pursuing. And is giving up a price worth paying just because we can’t guarantee the outcome we want? For me, the answer is “no”. For me, the things I pursue (writing, pushing my physical and mental limits, developing as a parent, a thinker, a leader, a human and so much more) I will keep pursuing regardless of what happens externally. Because for me, a life without these pursuits is not a life. I’m not saying that results aren’t important – of course they are – just that we can ALSO choose to make the pursuit itself at least as worthwhile to ourselves as the outcome. I’d love to hear what you think. xx Rupal |
Persistence does NOT always lead to success
Good Sunday morning friends, As this year gets into full-swing, I’ve been seeing
