March 4, 2011 120 Comments

Persistence

What Comes Next

Giving up is easy. Anyone can do that. People do it all the time. I do it. All of us do. We surrender. We throw out the next possible opportunity sometimes, simply because we fell down in some way or another, or because someone else finally wore us down with their repeated message that we couldn’t succeed. Surrender is practically a national sport, it seems.

Persistence, however, is a trick worth nurturing. If you can keep at something, if you can find and rekindle that little spark of faith that you’ll figure it out, then you can rebuild again and again. Persistence is the act of building continuity. It’s the deliberate action of doing something, doing it again, doing it again, until you get it right, and maybe doing it over and over after that, too.

At the Grammys, there was a medley of performances from Rihanna, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Skylar Grey. Three of the four (sorry, I don’t know anything about Skylar) had something in their stories about persistence. Rihanna kept her career going, after having to deal with an abusive boyfriend. Eminem came back from a serious drug habit. Dre had to battle his own inner demons after having spent 10 years away from recording studio albums. In each case, they persisted, even though things went wrong, and even when life didn’t throw a perfect hand.

Persistence is a powerful state to consider. If you can find the discipline to persist, then you’ve got a power that many seem unable to master. That said, here are three (or maybe four) masters of persistence:

Thanks to @RunnerBliss for finding me this version of the songs on YouTube.

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  • http://zudfunck.com/ ZuDfunck

    Chris Brogan, You have brought and influenced so many folks
    You owe it to them to let them know the Walled Gardens of social media are constricting them
    Look at me, I climbed out of those confinements
    And am happily blogging again.
    Be forewarned Folks
    You can check in, but you can never leave!!!

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  • http://twitter.com/LesleyRiley Lesley Riley

    Interesting how persistence sounds so muich like resistance. One moves you forward, the other holds you back.

  • http://twitter.com/LesleyRiley Lesley Riley

    Interesting how persistence sounds so muich like resistance. One moves you forward, the other holds you back.

  • http://www.brandonmeves.com brandonmeves

    that was a mad video!

  • http://spirocks.com Spiro Pappadopoulos

    Isn’t persistence is the only choice we have? Whatever we do we are making the choice to persist in a particular behavior or path. Choosing the right thing to be persistent in following is sometimes uncomfortable and challenging but that is why you are suggesting its virtue I believe. Thanks for a thinking post, liked it.

  • http://spirocks.com Spiro Pappadopoulos

    Isn’t persistence is the only choice we have? Whatever we do we are making the choice to persist in a particular behavior or path. Choosing the right thing to be persistent in following is sometimes uncomfortable and challenging but that is why you are suggesting its virtue I believe. Thanks for a thinking post, liked it.

  • http://jennireilly.com Jenni Reilly

    I’ve always believed that persistence and positive thinking is the key to success. We all go through horrible times in our lives, but it’s when we pull through that makes it worth while. We get stronger! Just wait… I bet all of those talented artists are going to do amazing things this year, just to show us that they made it through by being persistent. Awesome post Chris!

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  • http://smartempowered.com/dealerintro.htm Woodendart

    Presistence is so important and I think we all know that does not mean hitting your head time and time again against the same brick wall but rather finding away over, around it, under or even sometimes just blowing it right up!!

  • http://twitter.com/mailVU mailvu

    Thanks for the uplifting words of encouragement Chris! I always believe that 90% of success is showing up and doing work. It will pay off in the long run.

  • http://www.advancedwebads.com/sc/164 Randy Addison

    Rihanna’s song “Love the Way You lie” is really one meaningful song. It shows something dark but provides a reason why you should still hold on to your relationship.

  • http://www.moparliquidators.com/ Dodge Avernger parts

    Awesome post Chris! It’s the deliberate action of doing something, doing it again, doing it again, until you get it right

  • Anonymous

    Inspirational post! You’re absolutely correct it’s a matter of brushing your shoulder off and getting back on that bike. Adversity will only make you that much stronger.

  • http://karate-kids.com.au Sensei Matt Klein

    Yes, as you say Chris, giving up is easy. Especially when there are negative people around to remind you of what can and cannot be done. Better to trade them in for the positive thinkers. I don’t want to know why it can’t be done, I want to know how it can be done.

  • http://twitter.com/live_alpharetta Sabine Taylor

    I am not a fan of HIp-Hop content…but I do get motivated when I see Rhinna and Eminem come up from the ashes and win…… it is the never say die attitude that makes me want to push past my fears and win

  • http://twitter.com/GoOctopus Octopus Job Search

    Great post, one of biggest secret of being success is persistence on your belief, your work and you life. Most of people have no persistence, but that’s the most obviously difference between dreamer and doer.

  • http://jobspert.com/placement-papers/ John Papers

    Great post, i really enjoyed reading it.

  • akjudge

    Persistence is also something that must be taken into account throughout the professional world. Although these entertainers are successful and had to overcome very serious obstacles to continue their successes, not-so-serious obstacles are just as big as the little ones. From my own experience, it becomes overwhelming trying to engage audiences on social media and hardly receiving any responses. However, the more you engage audiences, the more likely they will be responsive. Persistence is the key to being successful.

    Very inspiring and much needed post, especially while job searching.

    Amandeep Judge
    Platform Magazine Editor/Writer

  • akjudge

    Persistence is also something that must be taken into account throughout the professional world. Although these entertainers are successful and had to overcome very serious obstacles to continue their successes, not-so-serious obstacles are just as big as the little ones. From my own experience, it becomes overwhelming trying to engage audiences on social media and hardly receiving any responses. However, the more you engage audiences, the more likely they will be responsive. Persistence is the key to being successful.

    Very inspiring and much needed post, especially while job searching.

    Amandeep Judge
    Platform Magazine Editor/Writer

  • http://www.webuildyourblog.com Andrew @ Blogging Guide

    Great insight! From my experience, my persistence has always led me to better results and gains. Such an inspiring and meaningful message.

  • http://www.webuildyourblog.com Andrew @ Blogging Guide

    Great insight! From my experience, my persistence has always led me to better results and gains. Such an inspiring and meaningful message.

  • http://twitter.com/edyaw13 edward yaw

    Thanks for the great post. It is all to true that we all give pu on things that are not going our way. You hit the nail though just gotta keep at it. Thanks.

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  • http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/30/gaston-cantens-face-facts-and-dont-blame-sugar-all/ Gaston Cantens

    Persistence, however, is a trick worth nurturing. It’s the deliberate action of doing something, doing it again, doing it again, until you get it right, and maybe doing it over and over after that, too. Surrender is practically a national sport, it seems

  • http://www.freightbrokering.info/freight-broker-ground-transport.html Frieght Brokering

    Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting.

    When you work on any big goal, your motivation will wax and wane like waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you’ll feel motivated; sometimes you won’t. But it’s not your motivation that will produce results — it’s your action. Persistence allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so, and therefore you keep accumulating results.

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  • http://www.mylife.com/people-search/gaston-cantens Gaston Cantens

    If you can find the discipline to persist, then you’ve got a power that many seem unable to master. Persistence is a powerful state to consider. All of us do. We surrender. We throw out the next possible opportunity.

  • http://toyotapartshub.com Camry solara parts

    Especially when there are negative people around to remind you of what can and cannot be done. Better to trade them in for the positive thinkers. I don’t want to know why it can’t be done, I want to know how it can be done.

  • http://www.sonakhosla.com Sona Khosla

    To be honest, I don’t know that I would say that Rihanna, Eminem or Dre are persistent. I think they are inspired. They couldn’t NOT be artists because that’s who they really are, despite all the crap they dealt with. I think being who you really are is the state worth nurturing.

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  • http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/-jgNq6fivxd/Vacheron+Constantin+Launches+New+Watch/VvBfDy4_ZXg/Pepe+Fanjul Pepe Fanjul

    Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting. It’s the deliberate action of doing something, doing it again, doing it again, until you get it right, and maybe doing it over and over after that, too. Surrender is practically a national sport, it seems

  • http://www.dietadeslabit.com Ionutzz

    I like the way you presented the ability to persist into something, but I think the video (the example) is a little bit irrelevant. Why? Because I don`t see that Rihanna had so many and big problems. She has chosen him. And there`s a lot of people dealing with such problems.

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  • http://www.websitetemplatereviews.com Peter Lawlor

    I think the persistence example would resonate more by discussing their (Rihanna, Eminem, and Dr. Dre) persistence before fame and fortune. Eminem didn’t really have to persist after rehab. He emerged with open arms in his industry. But, he and other celebrities persisted before fame and fortune; going on belief in themselves and passion in their craft.

  • http://medtopicwriter.com/ Samantha Gluck

    I’m all over this amazing post! Persistence is the fuel of success, truth, life — everything good. Persistence has made people walk away from me, scorn me, and laugh at me; persistence has made people adore me, go out of their way for me, and bond with me. Persistence is the key to success. I got no time for the haters anyway!

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    My perception is that most of us know what needs to be done, but once we hit
    roadblocks, we find excuses to prevent us from reaching our goals; be
    it fear, rejection, lack of money,sickness, etc.

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