What do you do when you hear the word “NO”? What do you do when it seems all doors are closed at you? When it seems that you are to close to an end? What do you do when what seems to be your last hope is fading away? Persist! Yeah, you heard me right…Persist. The good news is that you are not alone on this journey. Some people have experienced this before and today they are living testimonies of what a man can do by [tag]persistence[/tag]. Will the road ahead be smooth? Will there be any adversity on the way? Yeah, adversity is part of life. Challenges are meant to come. Your response to the challenges of live determines how [tag]success[/tag]ful you will be.

The difference between the successful people and the failures is not adversity. Everybody has a taste of that. In fact, the successful people have heard a lot of NOs in their lives but never give up. Then, what is the difference? The difference is your response – your [tag]attitude[/tag] to the challenges you meet on your way. How do you react when you receive a call from that recruiter telling you they had given the offer to someone else? Your bank account manager just called you and told you that you have just been refused that loan. The success of your business may even depend on you getting that loan.

But what do you do? Do you regroup and hit it hard again, or do you just lay it down and quit? Many people have made a u-turn when their success is actually around the corner. Calvin Coolidge said,

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men 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.”

Failure should never be an end. It should be seen as a bend towards another destination. I have failed before but I did not pack my bag and cave in. I bounced back and I believe you can do the same. Setbacks should be seen as the foundations upon which you build your future success and not the final excuse for failure. Nearly everyone who seeks to develop an idea encounter problem on the way. There are enough reasons why the idea may seem impossible to implement. Someone that you respect so much might even have failed at doing the same? That is not enough to discourage you from pursuing your dream. Some people gets discouraged at this stage and give up. That is not the place to be discouraged. This is not the time to see the obstacle. Focus on the positive and keep seeing the fulfilment of your idea. Keep seeing the problems that the execution of your idea is going to solve. This alone will give you enough encouragement.

The dictionary defines persistent as: to continue firmly or obstinately. Persistence is a state of mind. In the words of Thomas Edison,

“Just because something does not do what you planned it to do does not mean it is useless…. Reverses should be an incentive to great accomplishment. Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is just one more step forward…. There are no rules here; we are just trying to accomplish something.”

It is therefore normal for someone to have obstacles before success. It creates a better platform for you to appreciate God when you hit your target. Even the dictionary puts the word obstacle before success. Obstacles are there to strengthen us and offer progressive measurement of our growing strength. Discouragement sets in when we misunderstand the purpose of obstacles. Persistence is a conscious decision. So, train yourself to be persistent persons and stop giving up at the bend. Are you still seeing an end or a bend?