Persistence and Success

Ellie passed her written driving licence test today. We were very pleased and celebrated with fish and chips at a park by the bay. Lovely!


She has had a few unsuccessful stabs at the test. She knows the answers but freaks out and can't remember them. But she wants to be able to drive a car so we just kept going back until she passed.


As her Mum I am very heartened to see her displaying such persistence because it predicts future success.


Stephen Kaplan reports his finding that:

'CEOs who are persistent, efficient and proactive get things done'

However we need to know what to persist at, this poor fellow on Dragon's Den is persisting in investing time and money in a product that no-one wants:




So how do we know whether to persist or not? 
Seth Godin has some suggestions in The Dip and I have some from negotiation theory

• Work out the cost benefit ratio  - and do some research to make sure that these two are accurate. Your best guess is unlikely to be right.
• Decide some markers in advance that tell you it is time to quit - 'If in 6 months time I am still not turning a profit, I will quit' or 'If in 3 months time we are still fighting every week, then I will leave'. Write it down and then stick to it. Again, research this, so the marker is reasonable rather than a figure you made up.
• Consider that it might not be the goal that is wrong but your approach to achieving the goal - get some good advice and see if you can improve your chances.
• Work out what your best alternative is if you quit and see if you can improve it
• And remember:

“The Opposite of Quitting Isn’t ‘Waiting Around’…the opposite of quitting is rededication. The opposite of quitting is an invigorated new strategy designed to break the problem apart.” Seth Godin