Be Persistent

Kristjan Vingel profile

Kristjan Vingel

I've come to realize that we often give up on our goals too quickly. I'm not sure why it is, but most people give up way too soon. Way way too soon.

I've realized this because I've seen some people who are the exact opposite. They fight so hard and essentially until there's nothing they can do anymore. It's been a real eye-opener for me.

Persistence is a valuable skill to have.

I call it a skill, but others might call it a characteristic. I think both are fine as they can be learned and implemented.

Make being persistent your quality that people recognize you for. It doesn't even matter if you get what you fight for or not but try to go all the way until the bitter end.

It suddenly isn't about the "thing" anymore when you do this. It'll be about you competing against yourself to push it as far as you can. It's an exhilarating feeling almost. You don't even care if you get what you want. You just want to see how far you can go.

And believe me, you can push most things way more than you've thought you could.

There's even more. You learn to solve problems on the fly.

That's because really really trying to get what you want makes you think of possible solutions. Solutions to problems that at first glance might seem unsolvable. At first glance.

Yet, you'd be surprised at what can happen if you refuse to give up. Yes, just refuse.

So, next time a situation seems hopeless, tell yourself that "I refuse to give up." Just keep going.

Your brain will probably try to coax you out of this. It might say things like, "I'll be wasting my time, too much investment into what is hopeless, etc." Fuck all that.

As I mentioned earlier, it's not about the thing anymore; it'll be about you training that persistence muscle.

That's the real goal and value of this exercise.

K.

Kristjan Vingel profile

Written by

Kristjan Vingel

Hi, I'm Kristjan. I'm a software engineer from Estonia. I like to write about life and self-development.