Persistence! - Get Articles by Lee Wise |  |
> Get Articles > Motivation > Persistence! Persistence! Download as PDFLee Wise lfwiseaol.com Retire Quickly http://www.retirequickly.com/89863 ŠLee Wise 2002 I couldn't believe it -- I placed! My first swim meet. I felt GREAT!! In fact, I felt so great that I decided to join South Bend's local AAU swim team. Me, an AAU swimmer! The more I swam the more I was enjoying myself. I could see myself "winning." One problem: I also made the freshman football team. Normally, that would not be a difficulty except for one thing ... I knew I couldn't be excellent in both sports. A DECISION TO FOCUS I said, "I'm going to swim and that's it. No more football." And that's exactly what I did. For the next four years I swam. I swam in swim season and I swam in the summer. I was relentlessly persistent! LET'S STOP AND THINK! Persistence is a combination of these forces working together. *Our desires. *Our commitment. *And a series of decisions to act! Persistence is the "fuel" that propels us toward achieving what we value most in life. I KNEW WHAT I WANTED Back to my story. I had a *strong* desire. I wanted to win. I wanted to be on that starting block, hear the gun fire, enter the water ... And win! I MADE A COMMITMENT But I knew it would take one thing: commitment. I made the commitment to work like crazy because I wanted to *excel* at my sport. And that's exactly what I did. I FOLLOWED UP MY COMMITMENT WITH ACTIONS Day in and day out I swam. I took a job in the summer with my coach at a local country club so I could work out under his guidance *before* my actual work day began. I decided to swim when I felt good. I decided to swim when my gut hurt. I decided to swim -- period. AND I LOST! Yep, I lost. I didn't get first in state. I lost to the same guy by a tenth of a second two years running. I didn't like the second place medal at the time. I have to be honest about that. But I also realized something: I *was* in the top three! Why? Because of persistence. There is great value in being persistent. LET'S REVIEW Remember the three "forces" of persistence. 1. A strong desire. 2. A firm commitment. 3. A series of decisions to act. GIVE IT A TRY! Persist. Don't kill yourself trying. I call that nuts!! But do try! Persist. *Focus on what you value. What you want. *Make a commitment. *Decide to act. Then ... Take one or more simple steps of action toward that goal which is SO important to you! Today! *************************** Lee is a Seminary administrator, has a part-time business at home, and writes his own free motivational mailing. You may contact him at lfwiseaol.com or by visiting <a href="http://www.retirequickly.com/89863">http://www.retirequickly.com/89863</a>. Permission is given to distribute article. This entire paragraph must be included. How useful did you find this article? This article can be downloaded freely from http://www.get-articles.com and used on your website or in your ezine so long as the author is credited and their resource box left intact. You should not change any links in the article, and where the article is used on a website it's links should be clickable. Please see our terms and conditions page for more information: http://www.get-articles.com/authors-publishers-terms.php |
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