You’ve heard the phrase “Persistence Pays.” When you’re going through a life-shaking transition or making big changes to improve the quality of your life, persistence is critical. Why? Because when you encounter obstacles and other challenges in your path, and it’s all too common to give up. So what does it take to be persistent, to continue steadily, despite problems and obstacles? Why do some people keep going where others stop? As a coach, this is something I have been paying a lot of attention to, studying, and observing in myself and in my clients navigating through big transitions in their careers, businesses, relationships, and their lives.
Here are 5 tips that will impact your ability to be persistent to create what you want for yourself in your life. Incorporate these ideas to see the benefits of persistence in navigating your transition to the joyful life you want to live:
1) Believe in Yourself and Your Goal
If you believe you can stay focused and achieve your desired outcome, the obstacles will seem less significant. Don’t think about how difficult it might be. Instead, convince yourself that it will actually be easy to achieve your goal. Every day, remind yourself of what you’re working for; remind yourself of all the positive benefits you will enjoy when you achieve your desired outcome. Visualize the outcome and feel how happy you’ll be when you get there. The more you focus positively on your goal and believe in your ability to achieve it, the fewer setbacks will affect your process.
2) Ask for Support
Sometimes people don’t get what they want because they have a belief that they have to do it all themselves. Ask yourself if there is anything that someone could help you with to make the process of achieving your goal faster. Oftentimes, someone else might be in a position to accomplish something relatively easily and quickly because of his or her experience, resources or connections. They can also serve as a mirror to help you see things about yourself that you’re not able to see. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
3) Try a Different Approach
When you want to get something accomplished, think creatively. Try a different way. For example, if you are trying to arrange a meeting with someone and they keep putting you off, try finding another way to connect. Consider inviting them to an event you think they would enjoy, or find out what their favorite charity is and make a donation in their name, or find out where they lunch or work out, and “bump into” them. Do some research; find out what other people have done in your situation. Interview people that have accomplished what you’re pursuing. Ask people you respect what they think and what they would do in your situation. Brainstorm, do some planning, take a walk and ponder alternative ways to achieve your goal. There is more than one solution to most of life’s challenges.
4) Be Resilient
When you have a setback, don’t sit around and mope and contemplate everything you could have done differently. Don’t let your Gremlin (your Inner Critic) stop you or beat you up. If you do, you will find it more difficult to get moving again. Instead, ask yourself what lessons you can learn from your setback, and what you can do now to keep your project moving. Then pick yourself up and do it. Look for things to do that will offer you a quick win to keep you motivated.
5) Celebrate the Small Successes
It takes time to pursue a big goal. Since there will be ups and downs, it’s important that you don’t only focus on your long-term desired outcome. A key ingredient in persistence is to set small, milestone goals and celebrate small successes as you achieve each one. For example, if you are looking for your dream job, set milestone goals such as updating your resume, developing a set of decision-making criteria for your ideal job, etc … and celebrate when you achieve each step. The more you celebrate, the more fun the whole process will be and the more you will feel good about what you are doing.
Apply these ideas every day in your personal and professional life. Developing your ability to be persistent will bring you many rewards. Plus, being persistent – pursuing what you want and accomplishing it – is one of the best ways to build a stronger sense of self. We can all use more of that, right?
For a complimentary consultation to explore how coaching can help you to successfully navigate a big transition in your career, business, relationship, or life, go to http://wingsforwomen.net/consultation-request-form.
Keiko Hsu
Wings for Women
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