This is a guest post by Bud Hennekes.
Do you often find yourself giving up when things get tough? Do you retreat to your shell when adversity comes your way?
Perhaps it’s time you work on your perseverance.
If you’re dedicated to becoming a star-studded entrepreneur (and reading this leads me to believe you are) learning to persevere is essential.
What is perseverance?
Let us first determine what perseverance is NOT:
Perseverance is not continually failing without learning something along the way.
Perseverance is not a half-assed effort put forth in hopes of producing a different result (as a matter of fact, Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”)
Perseverance is not whining and complaining about how “bad” you have it.
So what IS perseverance?
Perseverance is failing and learning from your mistakes.
Perseverance is giving everything you have until you’ve reached your goal (or moved on to bigger and better things.)
Perseverance is remaining positive during your life’s journey even during the toughest of times.
Some examples of perseverance:
Suffering a serious setback (such as an injury) and using it as motivation to win the next track race.
Having your book idea rejected numerous times before it hits the best-selling list (Chicken Soup ring a bell?)
Continuing to follow your dreams even when no one believes in you.
Emailing guru’s of your niche (multiple times) so you can interview them. (Gee.. sounds familiar.. doesn’t it? eMillions anyone?)
Perseverance is what separates the lions from the cubs. The professionals from the amateurs. The successful from the unsuccessful. Without it, you are merely one of the millions of want-to-be-entrepreneurs.
While that may seem depressing, consider this: Once you begin to develop and learn to persevere you become light years ahead of the millions who just give up. What are you waiting for?
Entrepreneurship is for the strong willed only. Becoming an entrepreneur is NOT easy. Any belief otherwise is simply an illusion. Becoming a entrepreneur requires a great deal of hard work, but the benefits of financial freedom and calling your own shots is an incredible pay off. You don’t need anyone telling you how much value you can or cannot create. You deserve to be free.
One of the most important lessons I have ever learned is that, success is a mindset, it’s as simple as that. As human beings, we have the wonderful ability to consciously choose our response to any situation. This means we have the ability to choose how we react to anything that is thrown our way this includes the toughest of situations. We can choose to whine and blame others, or we can choose to accept our blows and keep pushing on.
The most successful entrepreneurs aren’t the one’s who had all the “lucky” breaks. In-fact the majority of successful entrepreneurs faced numerous setbacks (being homeless etc.) The successful entrepreneurs see a “setback” and say “setback? no problem” and use it as motivation to succeed.
I’m not saying you have to be motivated all the time. I’m not suggesting that you can’t have a few down days. I’m not suggesting you will never fail. You will. That’s part of being human. However, letting setbacks and obstacles dictate the intensity of your dreams is not. Setbacks are temporary. Do you have the strength to overcome them?
Learning to persevere not only will help you in becoming a successful entrepreneur but will also benefit you in other facets of life. Hiding from your fears is not something to be proud of.
How many times have you wanted to walk from something you loved just because it got tough?
How many times have you wanted to break up with your loved one just because you had one big fight?
How many times have you called it quits, stopping just short of reaching your goal?
Sure it’s easy to give up and walk away, but that’s the way of mediocrity. You don’t want to be mediocre do you?
Stop giving up so easily. Stop looking for excuses to call it quits. Keep pushing down the path of greatness, and one day you might just achieve it.
Bud Hennekes is a 17 year old blogger and aspiring young entrepreneur. Born in California, he currently resides in Shanghai and has a passion in personal development. He blogs at AboundlessWorld.com
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May 11th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
A great post from someone so young and all the more appealing for that. Although many of the suggestions are quite common sense ones, it is worth reiterating every now and then.
Nicole Price´s last blog post..Save Money This Summer
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May 11th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Fantastic post! I love the quote ‘Success is standing up one more time than you fall’!
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May 12th, 2009 at 12:18 am
dude… that was an awesome post Bud! Absolutely, you have to be determined and never give up
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May 12th, 2009 at 6:54 am
You will be surprise how many things you can archive with perseverance. Bud Hennekes this is a great post! It’s for the first time when i’m visiting this blog but i will definitely return.
Anelly´s last blog post..10 signs of a workaholic
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May 12th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Very good post here. Really inspiring, thank you
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May 12th, 2009 at 11:56 am
This is a great post ! Thanks for sharing the useful information.
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May 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Fabulous post, you are wise beyond your years, Bud!
I couldn’t agree more! Perseverance is indeed the #1 character trait that, as you say, separates the “lions from the cubs”.
If something is worth doing and you have put a lot of effort (and maybe cold hard cash) into it, the best course is always to persevere.
Thanks for the reminder, it can be tough slogging sometimes and we all need this clarified constantly.
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May 13th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Thanks guys for the wonderful comments.
As Winston Churchill once said ” Never ever give up”
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May 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Very good post. Inspiring one!
Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale
Mahesh´s last blog post..Google to improve Search Results
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May 13th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
While I don’t necessarily believe it’s that simple I do believe you have to keep your eye on the ball if you want to get to where you’re going. This was a timely post for me since every few months it seems i”m giving up on my dream of beign a successful writer/blogger and as things have gotten increasingly difficult.
However I regularly remind myself that at the end of the day there is nothing else I’d rather be doing and that keeps me going. I definitely agree that success is a mindset and until I really believe in myself than it will continue to be difficult.
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May 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Fight with the Power!! lol
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May 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I’d break the unbreakable, and probably see the invisible.
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May 20th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
awesome post and so inspiring and just what I needed at this time
Thank You Thank You Thank You
Cyndi´s last blog post..A Boat Called Freedom
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May 25th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Perseverance is when everything around saying do not do this, it is impossible, but you still do it. Perseverance is a very good character trait.
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March 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Perseverance is key to any successful venture and perhaps life itself. The ability to overcome obstacles, including the fear of failure, and the wisdom to learn from life’s challenges, can take you far and is what differentiates the winners from the losers.
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May 26th, 2010 at 2:52 am
i am looking for a good personal injury lawyer near the san francisco bay area. can anyone give suggestion?.-~
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