The Reason.
This is and has been a fascinating month for me personally and one I will look back upon in the future with a smile and a warm heart.
You see, for years I have worked on, spent countless hours, had endless conversations, and wondered why I continue devoting myself to The Man Effect. In this pursuit I have desired to encourage others, find answers for myself, and just be a man who is passionate about life.
So for some context as to why I wanted to write on perseverance, back in December of 2019 I wrote this article, “Thoughts and discussion around self-forgiveness.”
I thought it was just me writing another article about a topic I was interested in and hoped it brought encouragement to others. I had been on a journey of sorting through self-resentment and anger which lead to an online display of my thoughts. Writing that article on self-forgiveness was a type of public therapy for me it would seem, because as I was writing it, it brought me to new realizations and resolutions internally, but alas that is another topic.
So, the reason I am bringing this up and writing about it is that 2019 was the worst year of my life to date and hopefully will remain so. Here is a bit I wrote on this if you want more context, “Lessons I've learned from a traumatic brain injury and why discomfort in life is so important.”
That dark painful year brought many lessons to my doorstep but I did not think my recovery and conscious decision to continue moving forward would have such an immediate manifestation of encouragement in my life if I was being honest.
You see, I have never thought this project would be recognized much or have much attention, but fast forward into the pandemic stricken year of 2020. This is where the surprise was hiding for me. I got an email from a writer for Time Magazine. She had found my article on self-forgiveness and wanted to interview me on this topic as she was writing on this. I was stunned and honestly didn’t really believe it.
After we talked on the phone for close to an hour, I was informed that her article would be printed later in the year. I was excited and yet in some disbelief. How could it be that I was so fortunate to have this experience?
Well, here comes September of 2020. Since I live in eastern Europe I couldn’t go to a store to buy a copy of the magazine, but my close friend Creighton went out of his way to find this issue and take photos of it and send it to me. Then of course my wonderful sister went out to buy some copies as well so that she could mail a few to me. Regardless, even though I have yet to hold a tangible copy the fact that there is an article that references me and The Man Effect in Time Magazine is just an incredible feeling.
This is the issue I was referenced in.
I completely lack the ability to quantify and express the importance and positive impact pursuing my dreams with perseverance has had on my life.
It is important to say though, it has been nothing close to beautiful, inspiring, or movie-worthy. Rather the process has been painful, discouraging, and overwhelming.
YET, my choice to keep moving forward and trying has brought me to a point where I can say I have been written about in Time Magazine. This isn’t something that is pivotal to my identity but rather it is a small moment of deep encouragement to me after an extremely difficult and terrifying year.
So, I wanted to break down some simple yet effective tools I have found on my journey in the pursuit of my dreams and ambitions that I think you may find useful if you are struggling with perseverance.
Thoughts and discussion around perseverance.
I think we should start off with the definition of perseverance. “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition“
Simply enough, the definition itself is encouraging. If we could just focus in on the “continued effort” aspect of this, that is what I would say perseverance is practically displayed as.
For example, say you wanted to build a castle. Even though you knew this would be a long difficult process, if you were to just focus on what you could do from day to day to get one step close to building that castle this would be perseverance.
It could look like finding a piece of property to build on or finding the material which will last the longest. Regardless, I often feel that people think pursuing a dream is glorious and instant. I want to address the fact that often “overnight” successes are from years of choosing to take just one more step.
In order to help break down how to practically be perseverant in life here are a few aspects of this topic to consider.
Don’t be afraid to fail.
Now, it is easy to read and write such a simple statement, but realistically how can you overcome being afraid to fail? For everyone, it might be a bit different, but for myself, when I reflect upon what I would attribute a failure in the past, I can see a direct positive result of learning and growing come from failure.
I could use the example of when I was an electrician. If you did something incorrect you would often very quickly find out you failed to install something correctly. Then from this, you could learn, adjust, and avoid the same mistake in the future.
Recall past persistence.
Can you recall past experiences of being persistent? Take some time to think about your life and the impact persistence has had on your life. Reflectively thinking upon your life and the impact the decision you have made had will help you quantify and observe how persistence has influenced you.
Try to grow 1% every day.
I freaking love this one. Why? Because you are not comparing yourself to anyone else other than yourself. If you can look at who you were yesterday and know you have improved just by 1% that is a HUGE thing. If you can grow just that much each day the longterm compound effect it will have on your life is phenomenal.
So, ask yourself what it would take for you to just get 1% better each day and then DOOOO IT.
Be a risk-taker.
This point ties in with not being afraid to fail, but overall if you start to take risks more and more this will help normalize the stress and excitement of life. This will also result in helping take smaller steps seem much more simple because often times taking risks are big steps.
So, ease yourself into it or just jump in but start taking more calculated risks as this can have a significantly positive impact on your life.
Don't let others get you down.
There will be times when you need to persevere that the words and actions of others may be weighing you down. This is a mental part and sometimes the physical part that you will have to overcome. Just know this is totally normal and part of the process. You might have to come to terms with the fact that others think what you are doing is a waste of time, crazy, or foolish. BUT, with time and perseverance, you will prove them wrong. I hope that isn’t your motive but hey, whatever gets you to your goal. HA.
Understand resistance.
The reality is, if you are pursuing a dream or goal that has no resistance the chances are it is not a goal that is challenging enough for you. It would be like learning how to draw a stickman and then saying your goal is to draw the same stickman every day. Selecting and pursuing a difficult goal is a good thing. A result of this will be resistance. When you experience resistance take it as encouragement and a sign that you are on a path of growth and development. Do not be discouraged by it.
Keep your goals in mind.
Reminding yourself of your goals and ambitions is a great way to promote persevering in your life. It helps remind you why you are dealing with failure, risk, and pain. It keeps your eyes on the prize it will remind you why you of what you are doing it and why.
Set clear benchmarks.
Set benchmarks of how you will quantify progress. This may be as simple as you taking the time to reflectively think and journal every 3 months. Or, taking the time to speak with a friend who is also pursuing goals and ambitions.
Whatever it is that you do, make sure to take time to be able to know the progress you are making. It might not be at the pace or speed which you like, but it is still growth. This is an aspect of perseverance.
Remember and know your ‘why.’
Now, remembering and knowing why you are doing why you are doing it is important. Sure you have dreams and ambitions, but why do you have them.
This is a crucial component to your motivation as if you don’t know why you are doing what you are doing then when things get tough chances are you won’t keep pushing forward. So, take the time to know why you are taking risks, pursuing your dreams, and setting benchmarks so you know that you are persevering in the direction you want to go.
The End
~Timothy
