You may not have control over what happens to you in every season or cycle of your life, but you most certainly have a choice as to how you deal with everything that happens to you. You may experience health problems, business setbacks and personal difficulties, and have to face the consequence of extensive devastation and loss of lives caused either by the evil of man, such as 9/11 and the bombs in London on the 7th July 2005, or natural calamity, such as the tsunami of 26th December 2004.
It is your choice to view the glass as being half-empty and wallow in self-pity by letting your grief and misfortune get the better of you by taking the easy way out. Instead, as a disciple of perseverance you can adopt a positive mental attitude. Your rescue will start with viewing the glass as being half-full, and your recovery from the trials and tribulations of every cycle of your life will continue with your efforts to make a difference in this hurtful world.
You know that IQ measures raw intelligence. Well, Perseverance Quotient or PQ measures your "staying power". Here are 13 ways in which you can improve your PQ:
1. Take Responsibility for Yourself You must deal a deadly blow to the single greatest cause of human misery, which is the myth or false belief that our life is governed by some secret, external force. For some, this mythical, hidden force may be race, religion, gender, upbringing, social class, education, physical features or handicaps, and even their parents.
2. Select Positive Influences You must intentionally select positive re-enforcements. When you purchase books and audio tapes, films and other media for your entertainment, you must seek those with strong, uplifting themes. Select those which nurture your spirit.
3. Manage your Stress The word stress evokes scenes of breakdown, unhappiness and disruption of normal body functioning. Actually, stress is the effect of any external, physical or mental pressures on your well-being. The primary causes of stress are anxiety and tension, which may arise through different events or conditions, such as money hardship, job/business problems, moving home, sexual difficulties, loss of friendship, loneliness, demise of a loved one, marriage failure, tax investigation etc.
4. Healthy Living Healthy living is crucial for you because your energy and stamina are necessary for perseverance. You need to be in top form for focus, resilience, self-confidence, optimism, clarity and intensity.
5. Be True to Yourself In order to be true to yourself, you must know who you are. To do that successfully, you must nurture self-knowledge through self-searching, contemplation, meditation, observation, and reflection.
6. Seek the Best Source of Advice When seeking advice, you must consider the source very carefully. If you want to shorten the distance from perseverance to achievement, you want to learn from the mistakes of others, rather than repeating them yourself. And you want to use the methods that have brought others the success you seek.
7. Avoid Inaction Alibi Planning paralysis is a very real hazard when you set out to develop your plan to such a level of detail that you are unable to take action. Beware! You can only gather so much information and define so many steps towards the realisation of your dream. To make it happen, sooner or later you must put that plan into action.
8. Plan your Work When you have identified and set your goals you will need a plan to turn your vision into reality. Planning is a vital step in getting what you desire. I have met people with extraordinary goals and even well written goal scripts, but they never developed a plan for putting them into action. It is not surprising that their goals were never accomplished.
9. Eliminate Counter-productive Habits Firstly, you must identify the counter-productive habits or thoughts that you would like to discontinue. Then dump them!!! You must focus on what you can do, not what you cannot do.
10. Forgive Yourself and Others You must willingly forgive yourself and others. Do this for your own sake, and for your own peace of mind. Harbouring grudges, disapproval, hatred or disappointment can poison your spirit of perseverance.
11. Take Reasonable Risks You must not be afraid to take reasonable risks. Without risk, there is no reward. Risk management is more important than risk avoidance. Risk avoidance dampens the spirit, undermining the will to persist in the face of obstacles and reversals.
12. Get Support You deserve to be around people supportive of your aspirations. All good psychologists, counsellors, coaches and teachers will tell you that you must have exposure to a positive environment.
13. Do not Quit When you feel yourself slipping, remember the people who overcame failures and rejections to achieve their dreams. People like Thomas Edison, Ray Kroc, Colonel Sanders, Charles Schulz, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the endless list of other persistent great achievers, who found that success inevitably arrives for every person who perseveres.
Although life is not an unending succession of problems and crises, you must nevertheless accept that problems have their time and purpose. Consequently, by increasing your PQ you will equip yourself, whatever your circumstance, not only to avoid becoming a victim of that circumstance, but also to face up to your fears with a resolute refusal to be beaten into submission.
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This article is written by Abi Motala, CEO of Vista Information Publishing Ltd. Having spent 30 years in business, Abi has experienced enough traumas to last him several lifetimes. He has been driven to the edge of the abyss on numerous occasions, and he has personally tasted the bitter frustration of failure. You can get more info at: http://www.vipinfoweb.com/howtopersevere OR perseverance@vipinfoweb.com
