"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than an unsuccessful man with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." | ||
| --CALVIN COOLIDGE, 30th US PRESIDENT (1872–1933) | ||
Research into sales has shown that 73 per cent of customers say "no" five times before they say "yes". Further studies demonstrate that only 8 per cent of salespeople ever go past being told "no" five times or more. Do the sums. This means that 8 per cent of people are getting 73 per cent of the business, so no wonder they go on to become the most successful people in an organization. It is the same with you and your dreams. How many of us just give up the first time we get a "no"?
Perseverance is not about doing the same thing over and over. It also requires the courage to look at yourself and change your habits.
In the days when the only cars Ford sold were open-topped Model Ts, all the dealers in America were told to close during the winter. Henry Ford, the head of the company, reasoned that they wouldn't be able to sell open-topped cars at that miserable time of year. During the winter break, he decided to do a tour of his most successful dealers to see whether he could offer any help or advice for when they re-opened in the summer. Ford arrived at his most successful dealership – a place that sold twice as many cars as its nearest rival – during a heavy snowstorm. He was surprised to find it open. He summoned the manager and asked him what he thought he was doing, selling cars in the middle of the winter. The manager replied, "Sorry, Mr Ford, nobody ever told us we had to close."
Now you have identified your purpose and your goals, as you begin to move towards them you may not see any results immediately and so you may start to feel that they are not worth pursuing.
Frank Dick, who coached tennis player Boris Becker, runner Linford Christie and decathlete Daley Thompson, was the head coach of the British track and field team throughout the 1980s. It took a long time before they tasted any success and then the team won the European Cup in 1989, the first time a British team had achieved this.
When journalists asked Dick how he had done it, he explained that it was down to the preparation and work done years before. He used the story of the Chinese bamboo:
"The Chinese bamboo plant, when it is planted, doesn't do anything in the first year. It doesn't even sprout a single green shoot; nothing. It is the same in the second year. And the third year and the fourth, yet, in the fifth year, in a space of 6 weeks, the bamboo will grow to be over 90 feet high. The question is, did it grow 90 feet in 6 weeks or in 5 years? It proves that persistence does pay off."
Harrison Ford was in Hollywood for 14 years and was working as a carpenter before he was offered some acting work. He commented:
"It took me 14 years to become an overnight success."
The actress and model Sophia Loren spent many similar years facing rejection and being advised to quit and get a normal job. She said:
"Getting ahead requires avid faith in yourself. You must be able to sustain yourself against staggering blows and unfair reversals. When I think back to my first years in Rome, those endless rejections, without a glimmer of encouragement from anyone, all those failed screen tests and yet I never let my desire slide away from me, my belief in myself and what I felt I could achieve."
Another great example of persistence is Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain. The first time he rode the Tour de France, he finished 90th. The next year he finished 40th, then 19th, then 10th. By the 5th year he finally won the race and he continued to do so for the following five years. He says:
"Within us all is a message which we tend to overlook: most of us have highs and lows but it's the perseverance, the determination, at the day's end that makes us what we are. It is not about being smarter or having more opportunities, as others will tell you. Those who won't take the risk of failing and go for it, who won't see things out, they're the ones who come home early, never answering the challenge and never going anywhere."
When you have committed to your goals, rejection will inevitably come your way. Expect it. Welcome it. Cherish it. Then ignore it and carry on.