Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 714 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Persistence Fuels Success – Mindshift Monday
Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 714 of our trek, and it is time for our Mindshift Monday series. Wisdom-Trek’s primary focus is to assist you in creating your living legacy.
Creating your living legacy can only be accomplished by gaining wisdom in many areas of life. You can only gain wisdom by changing what you allow to go into your mind, which is a result of changing the way you think. In other words, to create your living legacy you must choose to be in a continual mode of Mindshift. It is easy to get stuck in a mindset that your current circumstances cannot be changed. This is not true, but you must understand this fundamental principle, “In order to change your life, you must change how you think and what you think about.” Our Mindshift Monday podcast and journal will provide you practical ways to make a mind-shift to a rich and satisfying life.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this episode originally airs I will be back in Arizona working with our partners on our townhome project. Phase II should begin this week, and we are excited to move forward with it. With several other smaller projects that need to be finished up during this month, it remains a challenge to stay on top of everything and still keep a positive cash flow. It is so easy to become overwhelmed and weary, but it is very crucial that we remain persistent to bring it all together. It takes a continual mindshift to continue on, even on those days where we don’t really feel like it. We do so because we know and understand that over the long term…
Persistence Fuels Success
We all need to understand that success does not usually go to the most skilled or qualified. Success usually results by those who are most persistence, even in the face of adversity.
Regardless of how you define success, a persistent effort is one of the most important ingredients for personal, or organizational success. Numerous studies back up the fact that the one indispensable ingredient common to everyone who is ultimately successful is persistence.
Even if these same individuals had numerous failures and setbacks, they were in a continual mode of mindshift to remain persistent in their effort. In fact, the stories of greatest successes are completed by people who overcome incredible obstacles and great discouragement. Success is achieved and maintained by those who keep trying. Indeed persistence fuels success.
So my question for today is, if persistence is so rewarding, why are there so many people who become discouraged and give up? We could go on for days with reasons, I am sure, but today let’s explore five reasons why people stop progress towards the summit on their trek of life.
1. People do not persist because they are uncertain of what they really desire.
Here is an example…Say you decide to learn a foreign language, study music, begin a new career, or train yourself physically. Will your efforts succeed or meet with failure? It depends on how much effort you are willing to put behind your decision. It requires confidence that nothing can stop or overcome your decision. That nothing will distract you from success in your decision. If you are not committed and certain of your decision, you will find yourself wandering off the trail instead of overcoming the obstacles.
2. People sometimes quit because they don’t feel qualified.
One of the most common barriers to success is to have the mindset that success requires some genius or some magic formula. Nothing is farther from the truth. While natural abilities may allow success to come easier to some people than others, that ability will get them nowhere on its own. Success is generally the result of holding on, and failure results when you let go too soon. Ability is 90% stick-ability.
3. People quit when they feel there is no hope.
When the clouds of discouragement obscure the sunshine of the dream of success, the situation becomes crucial. The test of true persistence is not near the top of the summit when the sense of victory is near. The true test of persistence comes when you are in the cold dark valleys, and you are struggling to find your next step on the trek. Only when the light of day fades into the darkness of night, and you can’t see the path forward can the strength of your endurance be tested. Only then will the strength of your persistence be determined.
The line between failure and success is that thin veil when the darkness of night overwhelms you before the first gleam of dawn appears. Once that veil is broken through will the full light of day come rushing towards you. This reminds me of Proverbs 4:18, “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.”
Many a person will stop on the path and throw up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, a little more persistence would have brought success. The darkest of nights are always followed by the brightness of day, if we persist on our trek.
4. People fail because they are unwilling to pay the price of success.
The long-distance runner learns through persistence to depend on his “second wind.” There comes a point while running that the runner feels that he or she can run no farther. Instead of giving in to this overwhelming feeling, the runner continues to run. Soon those overwhelming feelings gradually subside, and the runner gets his second wind. This same principle can be applied to any area of life. Until a person is willing to push through those overwhelming feelings and gain his second wind, he will never know for sure how far he can go.
5. People sometimes lose determination because they have not tasted the sweet fruit of success.
Nothing fuels success like the fruit of previous success. Your reserve tank of perseverance is filled full with each milestone of success that is achieved. Those who fail and quit do so because they have not experienced what it is like to reach the summit of previous successes. They quit because they are so comfortable with mediocrity that they are unwilling to go through the trials and hardships needed to reach the summit.
Every person who achieves any level of success does so through continual persistence through the trials and hardships on this trek of life. They have a mindshift that the trials will not defeat them. With joy, they welcome those trials because in the end they know and understand that the results are worth the effort.
As James, the half-brother of Jesus tells us in James 1:2-4, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Next week we will continue our trek of Mind-Shift Monday. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. 
If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe through iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek of life together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!