Persistence and Perseverance

Persistence and perseverance account for a large part of success in any venture, especially when it seems difficult to make progress.  This virtue consists of the quality of sticking with a situation even through difficult circumstances until you have resolution--one way or another.  

Examples from the lives of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison help illustrate the benefit of regularly practicing this virtue.  Both men were known for many stories of their persistence and perseverance while facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  In addition to Ford’s early experiments in his home that led to the invention of the internal combustion engine, we have the story surrounding the creation of the V8 engine.  Henry Ford was looking for a way to cast the V8 in a single block.  His engineers told him at the time it could not be done, however, Ford would not be denied.  He charged his engineers to figure it out; no matter how much time it took them.  Six months went by, then twelve months, and still no breakthrough.  After the eighteenth month the engineers had figured a way to do it. The Ford Flathead was the first independently designed and built V8 engine produced by the Ford Motor Company for mass production and ranks as one of the company's most important developments.  The Flathead was licensed to other producers, including car and truck manufacturers all over the world.

From the annals of the life and times of Thomas A. Edison we have the well-known story about the invention of the electric light bulb.  In the period from 1878 to 1880 Edison and his research team in Menlo Park, NJ worked on thousands experiments to develop an efficient incandescent lamp.  When asked by a reporter who interviewed Edison about his “failures”, Edison is reported to have replied (paraphrase) “I have not failed a 1,000 times.  I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."  Edison’s response points to what Napoleon Hill urges us to do in looking for the seed of an equivalent benefit in every failure. 

What can we learn from these men, along with other men and women who persevered throughout history?  They all seemed to have a quality of inspirational discontent.  That is to say, when obstacles presented themselves they did not give up. They stayed “in spirit” while not being content until they achieved their goals.  Also, they took a “problems are my friends” attitude.  When problems arose they saw them as challenges to be overcome on the way to their goals.  In many worthwhile endeavor in life, we often face obstacles and seeming failures.  The difference between those who succeed in their pursuits and those who do not has much to do with how they view and respond to those failures.  Napoleon Hill in his book: “Think and Grow Rich” encouraged us to “look for the seed of an equivalent benefit” in every setback.  In that way we learn from our attempts, and mover closer to our goals.

Let me conclude with one of my favorite inspirational quotes on this subject from Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th President of the United States of America: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."