The qualities of perseverance and persistence are under rated. When we see someone who is good at something people often refer to them as "naturally gifted" or think they were born that way. While it may be true that some people are naturally a little bit better at something what people miss is the perseverance and persistence - the hard work these people put in behind the scenes working on their skill to become the best.
In a world of instant gratification and overnight success we seem to forget about the need for perseverance and persistence and just practice. In his book "Outliers" Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule, that is people at the pinnacle of their sport/field have spent over 10,000 hours perfecting their craft. Just think about that....10 THOUSAND HOURS...that is spending 5 hours a day every day for 5 years practicing one thing!!
Next time you are feeling sorry for yourself that you can't do something you need to ask yourself have you really put in the effort required? The answer is probably not.
We will all fail at times, we will all have bad days, bad workouts, moments when we wonder why we are doing something. The successful people will recognise these as just bad moments and keep going. A good moment or triumph is just around the corner - if we quit we will never see it. If we persevere the results will come.
I like many people want things quickly and I will often get frustrated if something seemingly takes a long time to get. But I keep going. I am lucky I am someone who can persevere, I dig in and keep going until I get it done, I refuse to quit and let something beat me.
Results require consistent and persistent effort. If it was easy everyone would do it....just keep going! Train hard everyone!
