Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln. What do these three people have in common? The answer is that they achieved legendary success in spite of severely unfavourable circumstances e.g. crippling poverty, and lack of formal schooling.
Question: What ultimately separates those who succeed in life from those who do not?
Answer: It is the degree of persistence with which they pursue their goals.
Lack of access to f ormal schooling, or wealth, can never be a fatal handicap. It can slow you down, but it cannot stop you! History attests to this fact. That’s why we have so many stories of poor people, and school drop outs, who go on to excel at the highest levels in life.
The following are three well known examples:
1. Thomas Edison
Edison’s mother withdrew him from school, and began home schooling him, after teachers labelled him “addled” i.e. incapable of learning. You and I today have proof around us of the fact that Edison made the most of himself, despite having just a few months of schooling.
He was a hands-on person, and developed the expertise he became renowned for, by spending thousands of hours experimenting on his ideas. Lacking money, he started by siting his “lab” in a car! He never gave up, and reportedly failed about 10,000 times before discovering the tungsten filament for inventing the light bulb.
His experiences led him to make this famous – and insightful – statement:
“Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
2. Henry Ford
Compared to Edison, Ford could probably be said to have been even more disadvantaged. The history books describe him as having been a “stark illiterate”.
Yet he fathered the industry of automobile mass production: cars affordable by the non-rich.
It’s amazing that he achieved that feat without being a professor of automobile engineering!
That’s proof that lack of formal education cannot stop you from succeeding at anything you set your mind on.
3. Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln endured years of hardship, from his childhood, in the process of self-educating himself, to become a lawyer.
At one stage, he walked miles to and from the library, to borrow books which he read by candlelight.
Today, many readily surrender if they discover they lack money, or entry qualifications, to attend law school. Yet, Lincoln, despite challenges posed by his poverty, persisted and eventually became a lawyer – through self-study.
Then he went on to record a series of failures that would have daunted the average person, in business, and later in pursuit of elected office.
But he persisted, and kept aiming higher despite failure at lower levels. So much so that he eventually got elected into the highest office in the USA, as President!
Little wonder he was once quoted as saying:
“I may be a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.”
And it was also Lincoln who said:
“The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.”
He certainly knew what he was talking about!
This Blog (& Website) You’re Reading NOW, Is a Product of Fanatical Persistence
Yes it is. If you think the above subtitle is exaggerated, I assure you it is not. This is not an ego trip. I offer the details below, as evidence that I practice what I preach; I take my own medicine 
I’ve told all (mostly family) who have played a part in my entrepreneurial journey since January 2002, that I’ll be mentioning their names – and roles – in the book I’m writing on this.
I built this website in June 2005. And I’ve kept it online, and grown it tremendously, since then.
Not much money is required to run a website. However, when you lack money to meet your daily needs, even the little needed to keep your website up can be hard to find. I should know!
What’s more, it’s taken relentless investment of LOTS of effort, time, sleepless nights without rest (and sometimes DAYS without food!) – to keep this multi-disciplinary website going over the past 9 years.
During this period, I’ve consistently churned out content to serve my target audience.
Today what I offer has evolved to include special PDF reports (e.g. making drinks you can sell from fruit skin/peels), daily articles on 6 different topics, a weekly newsletter on speaking IDEAS, excel-visual basic software for payslips/feed formulation, and video tutorials on various useful subjects, among others.
Note that I’ve done all this alone, while sometimes still catering to the widely differing needs of clients in various industries.
Long ago, stories about Edison and others taught me that PERSISTING, no matter what, gets you to your goal. You’re reading this today, because I’ve always done that.
Diligent Persistence CAN Save You – and Your Child!
You – and your child – can apply persistence and end up telling even better stories.
I offer the following suggestions based on what I’m doing with my own kids:
Tell your children the stories of achievers like those mentioned above. There are many more of course – including the great Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, and others Google can throw up.
Get your kids to go online (or do it with them), to read up even more details of how such people defeated extreme adversity, to achieve noteworthy success.
Point out the fact that it did NOT happen overnight. VERY important. They need to be ready for that.
Let them understand that they can also succeed with persistence – no matter how tough things get.
This message needs to be repeated to them as often as possible.
Challenge them, as the opportunity presents itself (and it will), to apply that understanding when they come up against even the most minor of challenges.
Final Words: Persistence Is a Habit You Can Learn – and Teach
This article used true stories to illustrate how ordinary people, starting wth nothing, achieved unlikely success using just ONE weapon: dogged persistence.
The following quote re-enforces the foregoing point:
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence; Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful individuals with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” – Ray Kroc (Founder of McDonalds)
Persistence can be taught. It’s a habit that can be developed.
YOU, as well as your kids, can use it to achieve your own goals. The earlier you start, the better.
At a point, you’ll begin to apply this ability to persist, more or less spontaneously – and seemingly without effort.
The uninitiated around you will consequently marvel at your seeming ability to defy failure.
And you will get to live your dreams.