The 10 Pitfalls of Persistence

Persist, or the act of being Persistent

Pronunciation:

\pər-ˈsis-tən(t)s, -ˈzis-\

Function:
    intransitive verb

Etymology:
    Middle French persister, from Latin persistere, from per- + sistere to take a stand, stand firm; akin to Latin stare to stand — more at stand

Date:   1538

1: to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning
2: obsolete : to remain unchanged or fixed in a specified character, condition, or position
3: to be insistent in the repetition or pressing of an utterance (as a question or an opinion)
4: to continue to exist especially past a usual, expected, or normal time
synonyms see continue

— per·sist·er noun

Blind persistence, without taking the time to evaluate new information or progress as it relates back to the original situation, is not a good thing. Here are 10 things which may relate to you if that is what you do.

1. By the time you've figured out the real answer to a question presented in a group environment, the group doesn't care anymore.
2. People will think that you have no life if you spend all your time on one thing.
3. You'll miss out on other activities while you are focused on one thing.
4. You might not notice that the market has already shifted while you are trying to finish your solution.
5. You'll spend all of your time answering rhetorical questions.
6. Most people live their lives based upon the emotion of the moment, you'll appear as a nay-sayer if you try present the real facts.
7. Times change, and so do situations. Long term focus on a single item quickly falls out of sync.
8. You might be perceived as "stubborn" if you continue to press the same issues instead of adapting to the "crowd mentality".
9. You may actually be suffering from OCD or some other form of attention deficit disorder.
10. People may think that you are not listening to them, or accepting of their viewpoints.

Instead of maintaining your "persistence" aim for being able to Persevere instead.

For example, the world is full of those who have "tried" to get a business going. After meeting with difficulties and/or rejections, they simply quit. They accepted failure, and faded back into the crowd never to be heard from again.

The worst part is not that they quit their business, but that they quit themselves.

Why should succeeding at a business be any easier than learning to do anything else?

We are likely to stumble at first. It's part of the learning process.

Ultimately, the people who persevere through the stumbling process learn enough to become successful. It's "staying with it" that separates the successful from the "wanes."

Remember the words of Vince Lombardi, "We never lost a game, we just ran out of time."

So, what do think?

Are Persistence and Perseverance the same thing?
Can you have one without the other? Are they mutually exclusive, or part of a package deal?

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