BEING PERSISTENT! STOP
Extreme persistence is one of the 17 “Laws of Success” that Napoleon Hill taught us. I’m happy to be known for dogged persistence. I’m like a dog with a bone when I decide on a project. I don’t rush it; I let it unfold in its time. But I’m gnawing on that project a little bit all the time. But, what I pride myself on just as much, and a lesson I hope to impart to you, as well, is the ability to walk away from something that has run its course, ended up being a bad idea, needed the plug pulled, or was just not working anymore. Not every idea is a winner. Not every partnership is meant to last. Not every deal is meant to go through. Countless people persist in showing up to the same job and the same business, doing the same thing for 30-plus years without ever growing new skills and plans to evolve. They don’t cover their asses for changing economies. This is not the 1970s when you could get one steady job or business and expect to work there for 30 years and one day collect a pension fund. That ship has sailed. It’s very dangerous and lazy thinking to believe that you can just keep doing what you’ve always done and expect to get the same results forever. That is precisely the stubborn doggedness that has led to a decline in America’s productivity as a leading nation. Automation is real, and it’s replacing low-level jobs. If you’re persisting at staying put and doing the same thing, you could one day (and very soon, probably) be blindsided and find yourself out of work and freaking out over what you should do to support your family. Kiss living your dreams goodbye. You’ll be in survival mode, not thrive mode. That’s a shitty way to live life.
Open your eyes and open your mind to new opportunities.
I know you have been working at many things and done great things. But I say, if there is one thing to persist at, it’s evolution. I persisted with one thing above all others in my life, and it has served me well: the ability to evolve. If you are going to persist, persist with the ability to replace things that no longer serve you. I replaced a studio business with an online one and a network marketing business, because it no longer served me and my passions. I persisted in being an entrepreneur, but I walked away from being a studio owner because I saw market factors withering it away to the point of not being worth it. You do not have to stay in the “good fight” if the fight is no longer worth it, if it’s not making you happy, or if it’s not bringing you the ROI for your time and energy. It’s what you apply your persistence to that matters. It’s not simply the act of being persistent. We shouldn’t let ego, time, and investment hold us back from letting go. The motivational quotes on office walls are not as precise about this as they need to be. What you persist at matters. Persist with innovation on a systematic and scientific basis, not just because something is how it was once done or because of what you once were. Ask yourself this: What are you persisting at and in? Some endeavors deserve it and some don’t. But, I can say with certainty that Hill was right about one thing: The person with little persistence at anything never leaves a mark and makes no dent in this field or any for that matter. Now, what are you going to STOP being persistent at that has already served its course? And what is the next thing that will move the needle? Write it down. You will need this reminder.
Plan better now.
Develop new skills.
Invest in technologies.
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Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Vito Lafata • www.vitolafata.com
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