What makes people successful? No matter how skillful and creative you are, you won’t still succeed when faced with even minor inconveniences. People like Stephen King and Walt Disney faced rejection before their careers blossomed! In this episode, Darren CdeBaca shares how successful people achieved their dreams by harnessing the power of persistence. He shares ten benefits of being persistent to achieve your bold goal. Darren also provides some tips to keep your persistence on track and build it. You better decide and commit if you want to become successful today!
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The Power Of Persistence
I'm glad you joined me because I'm fired up about this topic, which is titled The Power of Persistence. Before I start, let me share with you the phrase that best defines the work at DCB Strategies, which captures the result of those achieving bold goals with a plan of accountability, purpose, and persistence. Whether in the professional, personal, or athletic world, it applies in many ways.
Are you ready? Here we go. Being the best on average have nothing in common, that's the phrase. Say that to yourself a couple of times, and when you say that to yourself, repeat it. Your mind automatically wants to draw a line in the sand and say, “Am I on the best side or the average side?” That's not the point. We're not here to judge.
At DCB Strategies, we're here to share with you the tools that make you amongst the best in your space. Again, being the best on average have nothing in common. One simple truth about the best, the best in their space have a persistence factor like no other. We're going to talk about that. As author Angela Duckworth said in her bestselling book titled Grit, grit is a culmination of passion and persistence for a singularly important goal and is the hallmark of high achievers in every domain.
Persistent people are usually said to have grit. Other words that are associated with this personality trait include determination, resilience, patience, endurance, and stamina. I'm sure that when you hear these words, you associate them with successful people that you've known, know, or know of relative to other parts of your life. Those are very powerful words. When you think of endurance, you think of persistence. When you think of resilience, you think of persistence.
It's about hard work. It's about putting the effort forth. Persistence can overshadow talent any day. Ask those who have been at the top because persistence work. We'll talk about that. We're going to talk about five different segments relative to persistence. 1) The meaning of persistence. 2) The importance of persistence. 3) The actual benefits of persistence. 4) Tips on adopting or practicing your persistence factors so it becomes more a part of your day, your week, and your month of achieving your destiny and your goals. 5) A couple of life-changing stories at the beginning and the end of this show to keep our juices alive relative to this topic because those who've reached the top in their space got it because of persistence.
Let me give you an example of a couple of stories. Stephen King, one of the best writers of all time, also had a couple of blockbuster films. He was in school and one of his professors told him he wasn't a very good writer. His first book, Carrie, was rejected by 30 publishers, which disheartened him so much that he threw it in the trash. Thankfully, his wife fished that manuscript out of the garbage and convinced him to keep sending it out. Eventually, Carrie was printed by another publisher, and he sold more than four million copies subsequently and was made that was made into a blockbuster film that all of you may remember, launching his career as one of the most successful writers of all time.
That's just one. How about this gentleman, Michael Jordan? Michael Jordan, the legend of the NBA, is one of the best examples of persistence in modern sports. This icon was cut from his high school basketball team before moving on to become one of the greatest and most recognized faces in all of sports. In addition, he overcame emotional trauma after the brutal murder of his father. While in the NBA, he took a hiatus from basketball after his father's attack and later returned to the Bulls for three consecutive NBA titles.
The Meaning Of Persistence
That's persistence by developing a skill that he had, but then being persistent to be better than anyone else in the space to lead his team to three NBA titles. One, let's talk about the meaning of persistence on the surface. Everyone understands the meaning on the surface of persistence and knows it is the defining trait when it's applied to achieve or accomplish something of value. It is. I think you all know that kind of by experience.
As Albert Einstein interestingly quoted, “Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.” Ninety-nine percent of hard work is persistence. That's genius. In fact, the formal definition of persistence is the quality or trait that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people. You can reset the stage of the meaning of difficulty when you have the persistence factor at a high level. The difficult factor goes down as the persistence factor goes up.
The lack of persistence means that you give up because of minor inconveniences, even when you have the strength to move forward. Minor inconveniences are those that ply you back into the default zone we call the comfort zone. The default side of the way of thinking is the comfort zone. We want to stay out of the default side of the way of thinking, which I'll touch on, and stay on the deliberate side of the way of thinking to empower our consistent hard work and persistence. Persistence is an effort. Let me ask you to go down in your effort pocket, grab a boatload of that effort since it's free, and practice it. Put in the effort to become persistent, drive your action strategies, etc. to achieve your goal.
We see a lot of people who have inconveniences that come along and drive them off their path and take the persistence factor out of their space. We see that a lot in our coaching. It's a result of those that subconsciously enjoy the ease of entering what we call the non-productive comfort zone, as I mentioned. They allow these obstacle illusions, if you look at it as an obstacle or not, to drive them into the comfort zone and not practice persistence to go through those obstacle illusions, and those obstacle illusions can take hold.
These minor inconveniences can take hold and as a result, the individual or team avoids or deliberate actions, thus a persistence factor to plow forward in achieving their goals. We see that a lot in our coaching, and we talk a lot about how to reshape that, practice that, and the benefits therefore of practicing and incorporating persistence in your life. You may recall a recent desired goal you had for personal or professional growth that is still on the back burner or was completely passed on because your persistence factor was not in full play due to your entrance into the comfort zone.
It happens to all of us. It's natural. It's the protection agent of our brain. It is like, “I don't want to work too hard. I'll just chill out here.” All of a sudden, you find yourself in that zone and not getting the persistence factor to drive through it. It's real. How would you be feeling about plowing through that comfort zone with a mindset full of persistence? I'm sure you would be proud of those achieved goals that you left on the back burner. We all can recognize that it's real. We see that a lot at DCB Strategies.
The Importance Of Persistence
With that being said, what's the importance of persistence? You may say it's obvious, but simply put, persistence is the difference between achieving the bold goal and not. At DCB Strategies, we are focused solely on the achievement of your bold goals. Persistence is very important in our work. Many teams, sales leaders, and individuals who partner with DCB Strategies immediately become refocused with our work, with their redefined strategies and actions.
Interestingly enough, before entering the DCB zone, they were never aware that persistence was a non-negotiable requirement in their efforts. If they follow through on that, they will achieve their goal through their actions and strategies, but they didn't realize before entering the DCB zone that persistence is non-negotiable. If you don't have persistence, which I'll share with you, all else kind of fails. Let's tie it in.
Let's refresh you on the application of persistence with the proven progression of DCB Strategies. Curriculum. DCB stands for Decide, Commit, and Become. I think you already know that, but there are three elements behind our work for each phase respectively. In the decide phase, there are three elements, the state of mind, purpose, and focus. In the commit phase, there are three elements, strategy, actions, and persistence. The become phase is the success, fulfilled, and contagious elements.
I want to go back to this. Notice that the first five elements, let's state them, state of mind, purpose, and focus of the decide phase, those are three, strategy and actions of the commit phase. That's five. Those five will never be put in full force if you don't have them powered by persistence. Therefore, you will not retrieve your predetermined bold goal. You can have a great state of mind, you can have great purpose, and you can have present focus. I admire all that. We teach that.
We could talk about the strategy, which is so vital. That creates discipline. We could talk about the actions which are phenomenal, but if you don't have the persistence to deflect the minor inconveniences and daily life distractions, the persistence to plow through with effort, then all that goes awry and you won't move forward towards the achievement of your goal. Again, you can have a great strategy and set of actions, but no persistence to carry through, no results, no value, you get it.
Phenomenal actions without persistence to deflect minor inconveniences and daily life distractions won't move you forward toward your goal.
Persistence is the main element. Many clients of DCB Strategies have the hardest time to properly adopt and integrate into their refreshed mindset and cadence of effort. "Why is that?" You may ask. It has to do with the fact that it requires the adoption of a new habit or habits. That is difficult for humans when they are in change mode. When they do adopt persistence, a new habit becomes a reality and so do the subsequent results they're reaching for.
Simply put, persistence guarantees that results are inevitable. If you have persistence, it will guarantee that results are inevitable. Isn't that what we're driving for, which is our measured results to reach our goals that are backed by actions, strategies, focus, purpose, and state of mind? Besides achieving your bold goal, here are ten benefits of having persistence, practicing persistence, and making it part of your daily effort.
Benefits Of Having And Practicing Persistence
1) You'll learn that the things that come easily bring little rewards. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Again, you'll have a grander appreciation of the benefit of practicing persistence because of the grand reward you have as a result. 2) You'll become an expert in your topic of achievement because you'll be putting in and grinding and practicing grit through that process to become an expert on achieving that goal, how it's done, and why it was done. 3) Persistence will motivate you to try harder because once you get success, you become fulfilled and it gets contagious. You become harder to resist to rinse and evolve. 4) Persistence is a signal of ambition, which is very fulfilling. When you're fulfilled, you're compelled to progress even further and motivate yourself with a more even deliberate way of thinking. 5) You'll set a good example for yourself and those around you.
It's contagious. They know you're totally in with effort and persistence. They see it. They see the results. They too will be interested in how that happens. It's all about persistence. Next, persistence will teach you the values of success and appreciate the value of success. When you love and appreciate the value of success, you want more, and you practice more persistence. Persistence gives you the vital and irreplaceable experience of achievement. Why not do it again? I've done it before. That leads to getting to your goals that you never thought were visible. Now they are. Persistence also allows you to become more aware of your weaknesses.
It allows you to become professionally vulnerable and see where your weaknesses are to practice your strengths with effort. People will judge you on your consistency if you practice persistency. Consistency is a key element of how people judge you. He or she is very consistent in the way they frame things up, the way they conclude, the way they speak, the way they present, their passion, and so forth. You get it.
Persistence, at the end of the day, will enable you to create a life or profession that you desire. Think about that. Those are just ten benefits in addition to achieving your goal. What about persistence? If you say, “I'm not a very persistent person, how can I practice, be persistent, and elevate my persistence factor?” It can be developed. Don't feel as though you're abandoned if you don't walk around and you always haven't been a persistent person. One of the simple ways to develop it is to think about what side of the brain you're using. There are two sides of your brain in the way we think. We either think in the default phase or the deliberate phase.
The deliberate phase is the progression phase. That's the persistent phase. The default phase is the comfort zone phase. It's not the progression phase. It's not the persistent phase. It's not the side of your brain that creates growth. Comfort zone doesn't create growth. The deliberate zone of your brain creates growth. You want to ask yourself, “Are we talking deliberate without progressing and with persistence? Is it default with the comfort zone?”
That's an overbearing, arching thought process above all this. It doesn't mean you have to practice it, but be aware there are two sides to your brain you can exercise the deliberate side, which will incorporate persistence and will require it, or the default side, which is the comfort zone where not a lot of progress takes place, old habits, old results, same old thing, you get it.
To Keep Your Persistence
Here are seven tips to keep your persistence on track and build it. Here are seven good solid tips. 1) Sit down and develop a positive passion and mental attitude. Put your heart into it. If you back persistence with passion, nothing will stand in your way. We have a statement at DCB Strategies that says, “Excitement breaks barriers.” 2) Hire a mentor coach. Be accountable to someone else. Don't be shy about your goals. Don't be shy of you accomplishing with persistence. Be accountable to somebody so they can remind you to stay in the game. Have the persistence factor there. 3) Develop a discipline that evolves into a routine. You can have a structure that is backed by actions, but if you don't have the discipline to stay on track, it doesn't create a routine of persistence.
You get where I'm going with this. If you have persistence, it's a routine that builds you in and plows through the inner conveniences that you experience during the day or the comfort zone. 4) Set your bold goal and vision. Be proud of it. Set it up there. Make it shine. That's the driver that creates the passion behind persistence. 5) Find a positive role model that you know incorporates persistence.
Read about them and understand them. Someone around you, talk to them. You'll be amazed at how simple it becomes with the persistence factor. Again, you got to rev up your own engine, thus that's what finding a role model that it's real. 6) Set and feed your growth mindset with a positive affirmation mindset. I already mentioned mindset, but with self-talk. Talk to yourself in a very positive way about your achievements in a present mindset versus the future or past. Feed your growth mindset with positive affirmations and positive self-talk. 7) Know yourself and know how you work best. This is key. When you have your state of mind, you have your purpose, you have your focus, you have your strategy, you have your actions, and you're about to start with persistence. Think of all the ways that will prevent you from achieving that goal or to strive for the level of excellence you want.
Think of all the ways that may prevent you from doing that. Now consider how to remove them. Clean the slate, then turn on the persistence factor. Those are seven tips, and you want to go back and review them. You don't have to do all of them, but get a couple going. Make them habits, and you'll see that persistence starts to be built up in the fuel of your engine.
You also may develop and use what I call persistence triggers or characters we call shoulder soldiers. The objective of this labeling is to allow you to energetically label your situation, thus instigating the proper mindset to accentuate it. These characters are fun and can be changed at any time to fulfill your desired outcome or purpose. For example, I listed a couple. These are shoulder soldiers. You know the little guys on your shoulder talking to you.
That's the deliberate side of your brain talking to you about exercising persistence. It's not the shoulder soldier that talks about the default zone. No. This is about the persistence and deliberate zone of your brain. If you're involved in business development, here's a so shoulder soldier character. “It has got to be me.” That's the name of it. You repeat that yourself, you repeat that, and that shoulder soldier repeats that to you. Your persistence motor gets turned on.
“I am a trend breaker.” That's my shoulder soldier message. That's my character. If you're developing a new business from scratch, “I'm a trailblazer.” Put that in front of you. Make that memorable. Make sure you see that. That's a persistence factor being turned on by your shoulder soldier, your self-talk, and positive affirmations.
Stories That Demonstrate Persistence
If you're writing a book, “I'm a page master of personal health. I'm a nutritional nerd or Peloton Pete.” If you're creating your own destiny in life, “I'm a director of focused flow.” You get how you put yourself in character. That's ways to exercise the persistence factor, and it's fun. Write it down, put it on a sticky, and make sure you see it. Remind yourself 4 or 5 times a day when you come to that zone of excellence in requiring actions and strategies. We started with a few stories of a very strong persistence factor with Stephen King and Michael Jordan. I'd like to end up with a couple more stories that demonstrate persistence.
Walt Disney was once considered a failure and was fired from his job at Kansas City Star Newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no good ideas. Can you imagine? The first animation studio he owned went bankrupt, but he then refused to let those setbacks stop him. He went on to found the most powerful entertainment company in history. Another gentleman in the sports world was George Foreman, one of the legendary boxers.
This boxing great defied all odds and returned to boxing at the age of 45 after a five-year retirement. Many critics thought he wouldn't be able to hang with the younger generation in the new style of boxing, but he quickly showed his persistence and quickly climbed the ladder. Two decades after winning his first title, the aging Foreman once again claimed the crown. That is the power of persistence.
We talked about the meaning, the importance, and also the relative construct within DCB Strategies. It's so powerful because persistence allows action, strategies, focus, purpose, and state of mind to take hold and go past small inconveniences and avoid the comfort zone. We shared ten other incredible benefits of persistence in achieving your bold goal and also, most obviously, achieving your bold goal. We discussed seven tips for adopting a persistence factor in your efforts.
Also, with the hint of utilizing the deliberate side of your brain, which turns that on, I introduced you to what I call persistence triggers or shoulder soldiers or characters. Those are fun. Use them, have fun with them, and enjoy the run. Thanks for making this show a priority in your day and for your intuition and your intention to practice the element of persistence, which is so valuable.
Here are a couple of quotes you may want to remember or write down to remind you of what the value of persistence is. 1) It always seems impossible until it is done. 2) Persistence guarantees their results are inevitable. 3) Persistence is a great substitute for talent. 4) The word focus. Follow one course until you succeed. That's a definition of persistence. Continue to grind it out until you succeed. Thanks for your time and interest in this incredible topic and go on for a long time with examples.
Continue to grind it out till you succeed.
You know them, you see them, and you got the a-ha. Hopefully, you wrote some notes down to put persistence and incorporate persistence at a much larger level in your life and your professional career. If you have any questions or like to talk to me or more about it, either email me at Podcast@DCBStrategies.com or go to DCBStrategies.com and let us know how you feel and what we can do to talk to you more about this to make it work for you. As we say at DCB Strategies, stay healthy and stay passionate. Thanks for your time, and make it a great day.