Life usually rewards not those who dream big, but those who persevere in actively pursuing their dream. They know that perseverance is the key that realizes dreams. I’m sure you’ve seen these winners: they’re the ones who stay focused, who take action daily to realize their dreams, and who repeat that winning formula until the results show up.
What is your dream? What is that one thing that would get you out of bed with a spring in your step? What is the living legacy you want to leave behind as a blazing trail for others to follow?
More importantly, what are you doing right now – today – to realize your dream?
Every dream starts with making a choice; yet it is the consistent work of perseverance that transforms it into reality. It is how you follow through and persevere, that separates winners from losers. What happens after you choose a goal, path or purpose, is going to determine the outcome you get.
Perseverance is the ingredient that converts dreams into reality. The more you persevere, the better your chances of success. And while developing perseverance can be summarized in three simple steps, it is not always easy to do. It requires you to go out of your comfort zone and to practice self-discipline; to keep on keeping on, even when all the odds seem to be stacked against you!
You can develop perseverance by continuously applying three simple steps: Focus, Act, and Repeat. Together, these three steps form the acronym FAR, and that is quite appropriate – when you put them into practice, they’ll take you the distance to persevere until you realize your dream. Let’s look at each of them:
Focus
Energy flows where attention goes, so focus on your goals. I learned the value of this principle when I was five, learning to ride my older brother’s bike with one leg through the frame. I’d pedal down the farm road along the fenced-in chicken coop – and how I dreaded that rough wire fence!
Try as I might, I’d end up crashing into the fence until my brother told me: ‘Focus on where you want to go, silly!’ It tried it… and it worked!
Are you focused on the possibilities and potential in your life, or are you focused on failure and fear? Pay attention to where your focus goes because that’s where you’ll end up! You don’t have to ignore potential obstacles and dangers; you simply need to acknowledge their existence, feel the fear and continue on your path anyway.
Act
“Let resolution grasp what’s possible
and seize it boldly by the hair;
it will not get away…”
These words from Goethe’s Faust emphasize the need for bold action to realize your dreams. Goals and dreams may be exciting, but until you take action to realize them, they will remain just that: pipe dreams. If you have a dream for your life, you need to take action daily to realize that dream.
What action have you taken today to move closer to your goals? Even when you cannot take bold steps at a given time, there are always smaller steps you can take. Simply do what you can, refocus, and then do some more. That’s the formula for success!
Repeat
Any personal trainer or coach will tell you that it is persistence and perseverance over time that pays off in excellence and success. In a recent interview, a well-known tennis coach was bemoaning the lack of emergent American tennis talent. When asked why, he answered that it’s due not to a lack of talent, but because of a lack of perseverance. Promising young players don’t want to put in the hard work; they don’t persevere until their talent is sufficiently honed for success.
In a world where so much can be accomplished at the push of a button, the core ingredients for success remain the same as ever.
Focus. Act. Repeat.
Continue to focus on where you want to go and take action to move you closer to you goals each day. Repeat the process, and your perseverance will burn through obstacles like butter. You can realize your dreams – so go for it!
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.