What is Persistence?

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Persistence & Passion .... sometimes we must dig deeper within ourselves.

Thomas Alva Edison once said: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

This is a motivational lens to help people who might feel like giving up on a goal, a dream, a pursuit or a belief. Thomas Edison said it best. People lack persistence and motivation. They often give up too easily - just when they may be at the brink of success! What is 'persistence' and how do we find it and harness its power? How do we find the strength to continue the pursuit when it seems we have exhausted all of our efforts? How do we find the motivation to stay the course against all odds? Do you know what motivates you?

The dictionary definition of the word persistence is: "perseverance;
imply resolute and unyielding holding on in following a course of action
in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement; doggedness; steadfastness; tenacity, pertinacity; the quality of being unchanging or unwavering, as in purpose, love, or loyalty; firmness of mind; faithfulness. Earnest and persistent application to an undertaking."

'Holding on' .... that means to wait longer. To quote another famous American, Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." What a great analogy ! That's what persistence is - holding on or hanging on when you just don't think you have the strength to for one moment longer. Tie that knot - find a way to distract yourself from giving up and quitting. There is a moment of relief in quitting but if you held on for that moment more, you'll never know what could have been accomplished !

The photo above of an 8 year old little girl (my adorable niece !) shows what persistence really is. (The New Jersey Camden RiverSharks Baseball Stadium has a rock wall in it's KidsZone.) This was her first time at rock climbing and she was scared - really scared. She wanted to reach the top more than anything. It was very high by lttle girl standards yet she was committed. On her first attempt, her fear won when she was only halfway up the wall and she asked to come down. Who could blame her? At least she tried. There are many adults that would not even attempt such a task! She looked back up and took a few breaths and said she was ready and wanted to try again. With sheer determination she looked the challenge straight in the eye and this time she did not give up. She did not allow fear to win. She took action ! She just kept going even when her arms were aching and her feet were slipping she still continued. After she struggled to the top and rang the bell her face lit up with the happiness and pride in her successful climb up that wall. She was literally on top of the world ! She beamed for the rest of the evening at her accomplishment because she reached deep down inside of herself and found the self-discipline and courage she needed to solve the problem.

That is what persistence is - sticking it out - not giving up - trying just one more time ! Keep trying just ONE MORE TIME!!!

THE CLIMB

Miley Cyrus

Here is a motivational song by Miley Cyrus that can be purchased at iTunes - also the lyrics are just below....

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

Track Artist Album  
The Climb Miley Cyrus Hannah Montana: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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YOUTUBE VIDEO -"The Don't Quit Poem"

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NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP ! - Poster

I THINK I CAN ....
I THINK I CAN.....
I THINK I CAN !!!!

ANTHONY ROBBINS

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Motivational Videos to Inspire You

(Believe in yourself .... even when nobody else does!)

Here are a few videos from YouTube that inspire the spirit of persistence. Believe and DO! Take action on your dreams and beliefs. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something.
Believe in the power of You! (Don't worry about the Simon Cowells of the world !)
"BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT" !

Never doubt what you believe you can do - if you think you can or you think you can't - you are right!
Tony Robbins Motivational Thoughts
Anthony Robbins, the greatest motivational speaker of our time has always been a cheerleader for personal growth and inspires millions of people every day to believe in the power of their dreams !
Will Smith - Pursuit of Happyness (Short Movie Clip)
In this clip from the movie "Pursuit of Happyness", Will Smith's character is telling his son to protect his dream no matter what anyone else says about it.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF - Poster

PERSISTENCE - Poster

Click on the picture to be redirected to the order site.

Famous Quotes about Passion & Persistence

Motivational ideas to ponder......

Dale Carnegie:
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Ambrose Bierce:
Perseverance: A lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.

W. C. Fields:
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.

Benjamin Disraeli:
The secret of success is constancy to purpose.

Elbert Hubbard:
There is no failure except in no longer trying.

Frank Lloyd Wright:
I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt:
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

Harriet Beecher Stowe:
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
The heights by great men reached and kept / Were not attained by sudden flight, / But they, while their companions slept, / Were toiling upward in the night.

Herodotus:
Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.

Jane Addams:
Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.

John Dewey:
Arriving at one point is the starting point to another.

John Quincy Adams:
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

Lao-Tse:
In this world, there is nothing softer or thinner than water. But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no equal. That the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to the gentle -- this everyone knows. Yet no one asks accordingly.

Louis Pasteur:
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.

Marian Wright Edelman:
You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

Marian Wright Edelman:
You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.

Marian Wright Edelman:
Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?

Mary Kay Ash:
Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.

Mary Pickford:
If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.

Ovid:
Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.

Robert Frost:
The best way out is always through.

Sophia Loren:
Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.

Stephen Covey:
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

Thomas Alva Edison:
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Thomas Alva Edison:
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Thomas Alva Edison:
Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.

Victor Frankl:
What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.

Winston Churchill:
If you're going through hell, keep going.

ACHIEVEMENT - Poster

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iTunes

Inspirational Music

Track Artist Album  
I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive: The Anthology
Greatest Love of All Whitney Houston
Life Is a Highway Rascal Flatts Cars (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Stand Rascal Flatts Me and My Gang (Bonus Track)
Firework Katy Perry
Unwritten Natasha Bedingfield
Don't Stop Believin' (2 Channel Mix) Journey
Settlin' Sugarland
Everyday America Sugarland
Always Tomorrow Gloria Estefan
Always Look On the Bright Side of Life Ensemble, Michael McGrath & Tim Curry Spamalot (Original Broadway Cast)
Always Look On the Bright Side of Life - Company Bow Company Spamalot (Original Broadway Cast)
Always Look On the Bright Side of Life Monty Python Monty Python Sings
Wonderful World Rod Stewart Soulbook

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."
~Napoleon Hill

COMMITMENT - Poster

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PERSISTENCE - Poster

ACHIEVEMENT - Poster

IMAGINATION -Poster

NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP ! = Poster

DESTINY - Poster

WORDS ...

They are just words.... but each can inspire and motivate and create CHANGE !

Achievement ....Action
Adapt....Adventure.....Adversity
Ambition....Aspire
Assurance.... Attitude....Authority.....Balance
Beauty....Believe
Best....Breakaway....Caring....Celebrate....Celebration
Challenge....Change
Character....Commitment....Communication....Competition.....Confidence
Conservation....Consistency
Contemplation....Courage....Creativity.....Curiosity
Dare....Decisions....Dedication
Desire.....Destiny......Determination.....Diligence
Direction....Discipline
Discovery....Diversity.....Dream
Drive.....Education.....Effort.....Elegance......Encouragement
Enlightenment...Evolve....Excel
Excellence
Explore.....Failure
Fairness...Faith...Focus
Forgive.....Fortitude....Freedom.....Friendship......Fulfillment
Give
Goals....Gratitude....Greatness.....Group Effort
Growth....Guidance....Happiness
Harmony....Honesty
Honor
Hope....Imagination....individuality....Ingenuity....Initiative
Innovation
Insight....inspirational...Inspire....Integrity
Journey...Joy.....Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership...Life...Love...Loyalty.....Luck....Miracles
Moderation....No Regrets
Opportunity....Optimism....Originality.....Overcome
Passion.....Patience
Patriotic Motivational...Peace.....Perfection.....Perseverance
Persistence.....Perspective.....Play
Possibility.....Power
Preparation....Pride....Priorities.....Purpose.....Quality
Reach...Reflection....Relax....Respect
Responsibility
Risk...Self-Esteem.....Serendipity.....Serenity
Simplicity.....Smile
Spirit....Splendor.....Strategy.....Strength....Strive
Success....Synergy....Teamwork
Tenderness....Think
Time
Tolerance.....Tranquility
Trustworthiness....Truth....Valor.....Values
Victory......Vision.....Wellness
Winning
Wisdom....Wish....Wonder....Work Together

Believe to Achieve

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