No great achievement is possible without persistent work. –  Bertrand Russell

A distinguishing attributes of those who succeed in life against those who don’t is persistence.

Many has the capacity to set goals and plans toward success, yet only few succeeds, because only few stick to work on their goals and plans until it is accomplished.

Majority stops before they even start or they quit in the middle of their journey.  Oftentimes, the reason for quitting is hardships, discomfort and uncertainty.  They let their fears and doubts paralyze them from moving persistently toward their goals.  Or perhaps, their motivation isn’t firm enough to drive them to work on it.

The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job. – Napoleon Hill

Developing persistence is a master skill to success.  It is easier to relax and do nothing, or just live in our comfort zone, rather than face the uncertainty and discomfort of sailing thru our goals.  Plus, the idea of failure and hardship is unbearable.

But if you want to create change in your life and achieve success, now is the time to develop and master persistence.  Here are six ways to help you develop persistence:

1.  Identify Your Wants and Desires

If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.  – Lawrence J. Peter

Before you can develop persistence and eventually achieve success, you need to first identify your wants or desires.  You can do this by simply writing down specifically all the things you want to have or accomplish.  List down all your desires and wants, no matter how impossible they are to achieve in the moment.

2.  Determine Your Motivation

Motivation comes from a deep reason why we want to achieve or have something.  If you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, it gives you more energy to keep moving.

For an instance, you want to publish a book.  Creating a book takes time and patience.  If you don’t have enough motivation, a reason why you need to publish the book, you probably can never finish it.  But if you’re motivated by the thought of influencing and teaching millions of readers thru your words, only then will you keep pushing yourself to work on finishing the book.

3.  Outline Your Definite Action Step

Identifying your wants or desires speaks of what you want to achieve.  Determining your motivation shows the reasons why you want to achieve what you want.  Outlining your definite action step is necessary to know how you will be able to achieve what you want.

When you know how to get what you want, it makes it easier to achieve it.  To know how, it pays to do some research and planning of what needs to be done on your part.  Be specific on each step you need to take.  Identify at least two ways and plans on how you can achieve your goals.

4.  Keep a Positive Mental Attitude

The road to success is not easy, in fact, it’s challenging, this is why only few succeeds.  There will be countless times you will be face with defeat and failures that if you are weak, you’ll be succumbing to negative thoughts of fears and doubts.

In order to develop persistence and eventually succeed in your endeavor, always maintain a positive mental attitude, regardless of situation.  Keep your thoughts focused on taking action towards your goals.  Avoid negative thoughts and feelings for it will ruin your concentration and persistence.

5.  Build Your Mastermind Group

Mastermind Group composes of people who can help you succeed towards your goal.  Choose carefully who you will trust as part of your mastermind group.  If possible, include only those who can give you unbiased judgments and who has positive mental attitude.  You can’t afford wasting your time listening to cynical advices and pessimist people.  These types of people won’t help you succeed; instead, they will drown your energy that can eventually lead to failure.

6.  Develop Discipline and Habit

All your goal-setting and planning will go to waste if you won’t be able to develop discipline and good habit.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. – Jim Rohn

There will be a lot of hindrances that will stop you from moving towards your goal, and without proper discipline, it will be easy for you to sail away.  Upholding discipline and good habits can help you stay in the course, even despite difficulties.

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• When one bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made. ~Author Unknown
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