Patience And Tenacity Of Purpose Are Vital In Achieving Personal Goals

By Debra Nelson


History is liberally sprinkled with individuals that were seen as great leaders, hugely successful business people, exceptional artists and celebrated scientists. May studies have been conducted to try and find out whether all of these exceptional individuals shared certain characteristics, even though their fields of endeavour differed so wildly. There are indeed certain characteristics shared by most highly successful people. Among these, patience and tenacity of purpose stand out as traits absolutely vital to success.

A patient person is defined as someone that has the ability to deal with adversity, that can endure difficult circumstances and that never loses his temper when annoyed by circumstances or other people. A patient person is able to wait without complaining. The ability to be patient is an extremely valuable skill and perhaps to only effective way in which to deal with the daily frustrations facing all humans.

Many people think that a patient person is one that simply wait for things to happen. This is most certainly not what being patient is all about. Being patient is not about being idle or inactive. Consider the example of a patient farmer. He cannot sit and wait in the hope that a crop will grow. He has to prepare the fields, sow his seeds and nurture the plants. Only then can he patiently wait for results.

A person that is tenacious pursues a specific goal single mindedly. He does not allow himself to become distracted by other people or by difficulties. He believes in his goals and he pursues those goals in the full expectation that he will achieve them. In the process he will never give up or lose hope. His determination is steadfast and nothing will sway him from his course.

Being tenacious does not imply being foolhardy. Someone setting out to become the supreme ruler of the universe is foolhardy, even if he spends every ounce of energy and vast resources in his efforts to achieve his goal. Tenacious people have realistic and achievable goals. They do not allow difficulties or problems to stand in their way and they see the achievement of their goals as inevitable.

Being tenacious or being patient are both valuable characteristics. In combination with one person they are very powerful, however. These are individuals that set themselves goals and do everything that they can to achieve those goals. They do not allow other people or difficulties to side track them. They do not become discouraged and they never ever give up. When they have to wait for results, they do so without rancour.

Contrary to what many people believe, it is perfectly possible to unlearn negative traits and to acquire positive ones. One can definitely learn how to be tenacious and patient. Disciplines such as yoga and meditation can be of great help. There are also numerous internet resources and books on this subject. All one needs is the will to improve in this area.

It is important to understand that tenacious people are not foolhardy and patient people are not lazy. Edison was tenacious in his pursuit of inventing the light bulb and he remained patient when thousands of experiments failed before he finally succeeded. He never gave up and he never lost faith.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment