‘Thousands of people have talent. I might as well congratulate you for having eyes in your head. The one and only thing that counts is, do you have staying power?’

Noel Coward

Whatever your talents, interests and ambitions, there is no substitute for the twin qualities of patience and persistence. History is awash with people who gave up when just a little more effort could have brought success.

There are also countless examples of courageous and far-sighted individuals who persisted against the odds. One was Charles Darrow. When he sent his idea for a new board game to Parker Brothers, they turned it down. They gave 52 reasons why the game would never sell. Nobody, they said, would be interested in a game about property trading. Darrow was persistent and eventually his invention, Monopoly, became the best selling game of all time.

In a famous passage in his book, ‘Think and Grow Rich,’ Dr Napolean Hill wrote that ‘Persistence is to success what carbon is to steel.’

There is a Japanese saying, ‘Fall down seven times, stand up eight.’ Do you have the strength and determination to get up each time you fall? Do you look upon problems as challenges to be faced and overcome?

Lasting results take time, especially if the goal is a challenging one. The creative process is like gardening: take care of the sowing, have faith in yourself and the process of life, and let nature do its work. Often you don’t know how well it’s going until weeks or months later. You can’t keep pulling a young plant up by the roots to check whether it’s still growing!

Once you’ve planted the seeds, there will be times when you’ll have to work hard, and times when it is better to sit back, observe and be patient. Simply do your best each day.

Stay open to new possibilities

Stay open to all possibilities. You may want things to happen in a certain way, but that may not be the best option for you. Keep an open mind – you never know what new opportunities will come your way.

Don’t limit yourself. Keep affirming and ‘visualising’ your future success and happiness, take consistent, steady action and allow the process to unfold.

‘When riches begin to come, they come so quickly, in such great abundance, that one wonders where they have been hiding during all those lean years.’ (Napolean Hill).

You may far exceed your expectations. So what if you don’t succeed first time? The obstacles don’t grow any bigger – but you do!

©David Lawrence Preston, 24.5.2016

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter @David_L_Preston

How To Books, 2007