Persistence

We hear it time after time that persistence pays off. But what exactly does persistence mean and look like? Persistence is when you continually work on something time after time, despite any setbacks that may occur.

One example of how I have been persistent lately is by hitting the gym every day on weekdays. That has been paying off well for me as I feel my body’s stamina increasing. My energy has also slowly but surely been stabilizing throughout the day.

Another way in which I have been persistent is to blog almost daily. There are some days that I miss when my schedule is busy, but for the most part I have been consistent in blogging daily. By being persistent, I’ve noticed that the quality of my writing has been improving too.

Some people may feel as if they haven’t been persistent daily. But if you look at the habits you already have, you may be persistent. For example, you may brush your teeth daily, or showering every other day. You may wake up at the same time every day. That counts as being persistent.

My recommendation is that if you want to live a life that is more structured, start off with one small habit that you can instill every day. Maybe if hitting the gym seems out of your reach, start with 3 full pushups. Then add another pushup the next day, making it four. Then go with five, six, seven, and so on until before you know it, you’ll be flying with those pushups every day with a strong physique to show for.

Other good habits to instill that might be easy to start off with is drinking more water. You can make it a goal to get 2 cups of water in before lunch. Or if you wake up late, make it a goal to down a bottle of water the first thing when you wake up.

If it is a matter of productivity, you can gradually build up persistence to working or studying more. For example, you may make it a simple goal to study and review notes for 5 minutes a day first thing in the morning or when you get back home in the evening. Five minutes does not sound like a lot of time, sure. But is it better than continuously not studying or working? Yes! Start with just five minutes, and then build yourself up to 7 minutes after a week of studying or working 5 minutes a day. Then, you might want to build up to 10 minutes a day. Keep going until you hit the ideal amount of time for studying or working.

The key the persistence is to start simple and relatively easy. Then, you will be able to be persistent, gradually building up long-lasting habits. Any time you slide down, restart with something simple again until you get the hang of sticking to that habit. Then you too can become a persistent person. (;