Tvmama

No Comments Written by Atila on October 20, 2008 – 11:34 pm

There is no substitute for persistence! It cannot be supplanted by any other quality! Remember this, and it will hearten you, in the beginning, when the going may seem difficult and slow.

“Bravo!”

Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up toward the top of the ladder.
Sometimes it appears that there is a hidden guide whose duty is to test postulants through all sorts of discouraging experiences. Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying arrive – and the world cries, “Bravo! I knew you could do it!” The hidden guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the persistence test.
Those who can’t take it, simply do not make the grade.

The Way The Triumphant Pass

That being the case, you could rightfully determine to steel yourself to it, and endure the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune, because it’s the way the triumphant pass.

Threat Into Opportunity

However, the science of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) has given us the concept of reframing – which really means nothing more than changing the meaning, usually done by changing internal associations with said event or condition.
So what could be disempowering – setbacks, delays, dishonesties, false affiliates, and adventures you encounter as you climb the ranks (you will encounter them, as they’re part and parcel of the human nature, visible in all parts and professions) – you reframe, recontext, reconceptualize into an empowering event, simply by changing the meaning of the event.
So often you hear me say this philosophy is not new. You find in my humble opinion, the best, most actionable presentation of the philosophy that’s ever been produced… And on this exact point you find Sun Tzu, in the oldest military treatise in the world, The Art Of War, talking about turning “misfortune into gain.”
Instead of negative setbacks, they become positive steppingstones and opportunities. For example, instead of a partner who “ruined you” by embezzling $200,000, you’ve got a cheap lesson, quick, in discerning character, so you can achieve all your goals successfully. Don’t you find yourself more jazzed when you’re tearing into opportunities than when you’re beset by problems?!
Events and conditions just are – the meanings you assign to them are within your complete control. Remember the philosopher-poet who says you are master of your Fate?… He’s talking about this… You are master of your ship, because you can choose how to drive your organism. Same winds, different direction.
You can take the events that discourage and defeat common people, and engineer and condition them to progress and motivate you.
Isn’t this what Edison did? Though many unenlightened laughed at his repeated failures and dissed his consuming interest in the light bulb as a folly, Edison saw nothing of the sort. What Edison saw with each experiment was progress.
Empowering difference.
The lottery of experiments began to talk… There’s more than one dimension to any complex problem… Don’t forget – Edison was entering entirely new ground! The message of the various elements and methods began to sound a message that Edison finally discerned. Without this effort and experimentation he never would have progressed to the breakthrough point.
The light bulb didn’t come about with no thinking. It took massive thinking. A lot of alpha time.
Do you see the absolute and utter difference between Edison’s attitude to repeated “defeat” and the ordinary person’s?!
I can’t remember, do you?… What did the scoffers contribute to society? We do know that through Edison came a quantum leap.

In Other Words

The leading personal achievement scientists reach the same conclusion…
How do you design an interpretation system that motivates people? Answer: help people frame the world as a series of opportunities rather than as a series of threats. (Weick & Browning)
Of all the virtues we can learn, no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge. (Csikszentmihalyi)

Embrace Adventure

So if this is the most useful trait, essential to success, why don’t you simply embrace adventure?
This frame makes the necessary quality of persistence easy. It’s connecting with your goal, quest, and definite chief aim with intensity of purpose. There’s no strife – there’s passion.
There’s no discipline required, in the conventional sense of the word – you’re in passion. There are no failures, there’s engagement, and calls on your prowess.
Problems aren’t something to be avoided, but opportunities for you to turn to advantage and abundance. Misfortune into gain.
It’s always been the way of the hero.
Don’t expect smooth sailing all the time! It’s the Law of Nature – like the Law of the Seas – it’ll never happen.
Rather seek to become competent to navigate any sea, any airspace, and any situation you find yourself in with grace and success.
Isn’t this the kind of pilot you would prefer to have if you were about to take off in turbulent weather? Or would you prefer a pilot unseasoned by adversity? Or, worse, one who loses it when things get turby?… Hmmm…

It’s The Pathway To Success

Enter into the fray with gusto! Resolve to be bigger than every challenge, setback, delay, or disappointment. When those skirmishes, defeats, and dark days come, relish in the punishment, embracing it as a spur to greater effort. Don’t just attempt a feigned effort at enjoying the adventures – really enjoy them!
Want a good reason?… It’s the pathway to success.
Those who can “take it” are bountifully rewarded for their persistence. They receive, as their compensation, whatever goal they are pursuing. That is not all! They receive something infinitely more important than material compensation – the knowledge that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage. Nay, according to the Law of Growth and multiplication, it delivers the opportunity of a leveraged advantage!