“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison.
The problem with most of us is that we give up too easily. We make a full effort at something and when it doesn’t work, we move onto something else. Persistence is wanting something so much that you continue trying to reach your goal, no matter how many times you fail.
Most of us make two mistakes in trying to achieve some of our goals. The first is that we give up too easily. After one or two failed attempts, we simply give up, either to find an easier goal, or just stop altogether. The second mistake is that when we do make several attempts, we do them exactly the same way each time, so that the effort is guaranteed to fail.
When Thomas Edison tried to perfect the light bulb, he never wavered from his goal. Each time he made another attempt, he made changes in how he was doing it, knowing that the previous effort failed, and would fail again if he tried the same exact thing.
There’s a 69 year old woman in Korea who failed the drivers written test 959 times, before finally passing it on the 960th try. The woman was illiterate, and spent over an hour on buses to get to the testing site, but she was determined. Each time she took the test, her score kept getting higher. Each time she failed, she would study harder, trying to memorize and understand the questions. Hanging up on a wall where she lives, is a hand written sign that reads “Never give up”
Set an achievable goal for yourself. Then pursue that goal with all your passion, until you achieve it. If you fail, change your approach, try something different. With persistence and determination, you’ll achieve your goal, even if you have to try 10,000 times.
Omar M. Kiam 