Chapter 9 -- Persistence

In order to accomplish our goals we need persistence. If we are persistent we can accomplish anything. However, we will only display persistence if our goal is something that we feel is as important as air itself. When our goal is defined, important and subjected to a laser focus it is easier to display persistence.

Unfortunately, getting distracted by criticism or fear of being criticized will undermine your willpower. Also, being indecisive, spending time wishing that circumstances were different or looking for shortcuts will doom our efforts. We cannot worry about how others perceive us or our stated goals. I've found that the people who are the most critical and negative have never stretched out their hands to receive anything.
So their opinions should be ranked as beneath consideration.

I am working hard to maintain a persistent level of "money consciousness." I am finding this to be difficult because my mental habit has always been to desire enough to pay bills and be able to be a stay-at-home mom. I have a research job that is helping to bring money into the home, and it would be very easy to slip back into complacency and say that the money that I'm making is paying the bills and start relaxing. I recently had to remind myself that if I can spend hours compiling research for the company that is paying me, I should spend that same effort to find the organizations and leads to create my business so that I can get rid of the research position. By saying my motto, or self-talk, thinking about what I'd use my new income to achieve and studying "Think and Grow Rich" I am at making baby steps to being money conscious on a daily basis.

I have also been evaluating other things in my life that work to undermine my persistence to achieve the level of success that I know that I am capable of achieving. As a homeschooler, a lot of time is spent educating my children. However, once upon a time I had complete control over their educational schedule and activities. But I enrolled my daughter into a cyber charter school when I became pregnant with my son. Anyway, the schedule and other things inherent to the cyber charter environment are hampering my efforts, not only to educate my children, but to do my business effectively. So my husband and I are planning to get through the rest of this school year, but not re-enrolling her next semester. The artificial schedules create unnecessary stress in my household, which in turn drains energy from my efforts and endeavors.

As suggested in this chapter, I am now a part of a Mastermind group that meets once a month at a local McDonalds. Our first meeting was really encouraging and we brainstormed some strategies that we can engage in together. We also had a local business owner (my best friend) and a soon-to-be new business owner in our group. We came up with some goals and deadlines to help move our businesses forward. We'll reconvene next month and check our progress and make more plans. It was really refreshing to be able to focus on a single goal with a group of women who also want to move forward in their lives.

The review of the 8 necessary steps (definiteness of purpose, desire, self-reliance, definiteness of plans, accurate knowledge, cooperation, willpower and habit) to achieve success was also a good reminder for me of what I need to keep in the forefront of my mind. I realize that I need to work harder on creating habits that support my desire to be financial successful. By doing activities that help put my opportunity and products before people, I will be able to achieve my goals through baby steps that will eventually grow up and make me proud.