Unorthodox Angles/Andrew Gramling
The Path to Self-Fulfillment: Part IV– Developing Unstoppable Movement
A continuation of our series on personal evolution, truth, and accountability.
By Andrew Gramling and Harry Petsanis, Corporate Consultant, Owner of Accountability Coaching
The ability to persevere, overcome obstacles, and get up when you’ve been knocked down always supersedes god-given talent. Talent is a gift—but it’s often squandered without the discipline to back it up. When you look at or read most success stories, they are simply someone failing over and over until they end up succeeding.
Thomas Edison, known for inventing the light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera(kinetoscope), and holding over 1,000 patents in his lifetime, knew this truth intimately, and had a number of quotes on perseverance.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.”
“Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
A few other well-known and influential individuals from around the world shared the same message but in a different form.
“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” -Nelson Mandela
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. It may even be necessary to encounter the defeat, so we can know who we are.” -Maya Angelou
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” -Confucius
“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” -Malcom X
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” -Bruce Lee
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” -Frida Kahlo
We have become a society that quits at the first sign of adversity, and we often give up before adversity even reveals itself. They say adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it. You won’t know who you truly are and what you can do until life itself strips you of everything you thought you were but aren’t.
The person who is resilient, unwilling to give up, and understands that setbacks and disappointments are speed bumps rather than roadblocks on the path to success is the person who will always end up either attaining their goals or being at peace with the fact that they did everything within their power to attain the things they say they truly want.
Laziness starts in the mind. The mind creates excuses, rationalizes, and justifies not moving forward. People talk about their fears holding them back. The reality is fear does not hold you back, you allow it to.
If you are looking for the easy path, or the quick fix, then you are not someone who truly wants to achieve, you are someone who wants achievement handed to them. Mental and physical inertia can be difficult to overcome, but that same principle can also make it difficult to stop a determined individual who has already gotten the ball rolling.
Anything worthwhile or worth having is worth working for, and it also is worth fighting for. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes within ethical lines to get to where you want to be and understand that on that journey there will be people and things that are put in front of you to deter you from reaching your destination. That is when you have to dig deep and be willing to push harder than the things that are pushing against you. To attain our goals, we must be willing to climb over the walls — our limitations — or knock them down completely, rather than remaining in a fear-induced state of paralysis: “I’ll never get it done.” “It’s too hard.” “It will take too long.” “I’m not good at doing that.”
Another quote, from Muhammed Ali, goes, “Don’t step into the ring unless you’re willing to go 15 rounds and risk your life for what is important to you.”
Once you develop a resolve and an unwillingness to relent, no matter what the odds may appear to be, you will then achieve everything that is within your grasp. So don’t focus solely on talent, opportunity, or the difficulties life presents — if you want to build something lasting, focus instead on resilience and a mindset that says, no matter what, I will not be denied. Talent may give you a head start, but perseverance determines how far you'll go. Cultivate both, and there's no limit to what you can achieve.
