The Power of Persistence

Has anyone read Napolean Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich? Check it out, it’s damn good. I was thinking about my job and it reminded me of a part of that book that talks about persistence as being one of the keys to success. Hill said that whenever you quit something, you were probably so close to succeeding that if you would have stuck it out just a little bit longer, you’d have made it.I was lucky I learned this when I went to Marine Corps OCS. Everything we did there pushed me to the limit, mentally and physically. Every time we ran, we ran until I couldn’t push myself anymore, then I ran more until I knew if I took one more step I would die and I couldn’t possibly go any further, and a lot of people quit right there. But if you pushed yourself a little further you’d get over that hump and make it to the end.

Same thing happened when I started in the mortgage business about a year ago. Majority of employers pay commission-only, so a lot of people get into the business and then quit within a month because they aren’t making money yet; it can be very lucrative if you stick it out, but most people don’t. I knew I could be good, but wasn’t sure if I’d have the balls to stick it out until I started making money. So I did another thing Napolean Hill suggests…I burned all my bridges…sort of. It takes about a month to get paid on a deal after you’ve started on it…sometimes a lot more. I only had about a month and a half cash reserves. If I went into the business I was going to have to succeed or I’d be living on the street (I already decided I wasn’t moving home no matter what). 2 months went by and I didn’t see any money. I managed to scrounge up some thanks to the good faith of some relatives. Then 5 months went by and I only had $4,000 to show for it; and that’s pennies when you live in Southern California.

Burn Bridges And Don’t Look Back

The point is, every time it got to the point that I had absolutely no money left, I managed to pull something together somehow. Just like at OCS, every time I got to where I thought I couldn’t go anymore, I managed to push a little further, scrounging up more money or living on peanut butter and bread 2 meals a day and a protein shake in the morning. I kept going until my credit cards were all over the limits and I had to call my buddy to pick me up for work because I didn’t have a couple bucks for gas. I knew that if I didn’t get paid that day or the next I was going to have some major problems…it didn’t matter…I told myself I’d find a buddy who’d let me crash on his couch or sleep in my car if I had to. I was already way to far in to quit now (hence the benefit of burning your bridges). The next day I got my first major check. And then I got a couple more after that.

I thought about quiting and getting another job more than 20 times during that experience; and actually jumped on monster.com to search for another job more than once. I never went for another job partly because I wanted to succeed, but let’s be honest…when you’re facing sleeping in your car, it’s hard to keep going. I didn’t think I had enough money to wait 2-4 weeks to find another job and get a paycheck, so that had a huge influence on me not quitting. Even so, I managed to live about 3 months without making a dime and then another 3 months after that. Because I burned that bridge and didn’t think there was any going back, I got creative and figured out a way to get it done. I did.

Ultimately, if you’re really going to succeed in anything, unless you’re lucky, you’ll think about quitting everyday for a while…whatever it is. If you don’t, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. It’s never until after you get to the point that you know, without any doubt in your mind that you can’t possibly push things any further, that you’ll finally succeed.