I believe successful people all have two “character traits” that I call the keys to success. They are perseverance and positivity.
Perseverance
Perseverance has many “synonyms” words that mean the same thing or have similar meanings.
People often define perseverance by its synonyms: determination and steadfastness.
Or they define it using an “idiom” a phrase which conveys a meaning far different from the literal meaning of the words, like the idiom “stick to it ness” a jumble which means once you start a task you don’t stop until you finish.
I believe that perseverance is essential to success in life because we will all have tasks we will not accomplish on the first try, and we will make multiple attempts until we succeed. But it’s not the failing attempts that define failure, it’s the giving up that defines failure. And that’s why determination, steadfastness and “stick-to-it-ness” help you become successful. They teach you to not give up.
When we were very young children learning to walk, we all fell down many times. The falls didn’t make us failures, but our perseverance pushed us to get up and try again. Eventually we all became “successful walkers”.
Positivity
Thomas Edison, the famous inventor of the lightbulb is quoted as saying “ I tried 10,000 times to make the lightbulb. But I didn’t fail 10,000 times. I discovered 10,000 ways that didn’t work”.
This quote shows us the power of perseverance. But it also shows us the power of something else. This quote shows us the power of positivity.
But let me clarify that the positivity I am talking about is not the smiling face, everything is great positivity.
When I say positivity I mean that you positively believe you will succeed as long as you keep giving it your best and refuse to quit.
Positivity is an important part of being determined, being motivated and ultimately succeeding. I think it is essential to being successful, because it gives us the emotional strength to try again until we succeed.
A good “synonym” is “self confidence” or the belief in your ability to succeed.
This brings us to the end of my essay, but I will share with you one last, very short story. When my children were learning to walk, to ride a bicycle, to use roller skates and to ice skate, I was their cheerleader. I told them over and over six little words:
You Can Do It & Try Again.
I didn’t know that I was imprinting these words and the concepts they represent in their minds.
You can do it = Positivity.
Try Again = Perseverance.
I have observed that as people get older they are reluctant to try new things, learn new skills or even try new jobs. When they do try new things they do so without confidence and quit at the first failed task. I think that many adults need to relearn from successful people the keys to success they had as a child that life has stripped from them; perseverance and positivity, so they can be successful.
Keep writing and keep posting!
✍️ By Shortsegments