So many people I know get right to the point of breaking through in life but then begin to cower; they lose their drive and their confidence. They think they need some magic formula that will make them succeed, and don’t realize that persistence is the magic formula. As Woody Allen said, “Ninety percent of life is just showing up.” Joking aside, he’s saying that when you show up, you are there to take advantage of the opportunities. When you hit the wall, you weaken it. When you knock on doors and keep knocking on them, pretty soon opportunity starts to knock back. Persistence overcomes resistance.

Colonel Sanders went to more than a thousand people asking for a loan to start one of the most successful businesses in America. He knocked on a door and the answer was no, but he knocked on another door, and another and another, and at one of them the answer was yes. And he knocked on another door and got another yes. And another. And another. It didn’t take a genius, though he may have been a genius. It didn’t take formal education, and it certainly didn’t take wealth. It took persistence.

How do you get persistence? Is it like motivation? Do you have to convince your subconscience? Well, that doesn’t hurt; motivation will build up your persistence. If you say to yourself at the beginning that you are going to accomplish your goal no matter what other people say, no matter what obstacles and proving the naysayers wrong, step by step, door by door.

Persistence is grounded in faith. You will never be willing to go the extra mile if you don’t believe in who you are and what you have to offer. Understanding who you are is the keystone to persistence. You are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. God didn’t bring you this far to just leave you stranded in an almost life.

Persistence is also greatly supported by faith in God. Understanding that the natural world is not the final answer. Understanding that God has ”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And I’m not talking about money…I’m talking about strength, peace and patience. You have been given a hope. If you truly believe that, knocking on a few hundred more doors begins to seem like a small task. You must put in the work. You must sow. You must be persistent.

Will it be hard? Yes. Will there be times you want to give up? Yes. Will there be times you do give up? Of course. But you’ll come back, you’ll step up and step out, because your motivated, believing and persistent.

Let’s do this!