The capacity of an individual to remain consistently stable is a profound persistent trait. In metaphysics, persistency is the inner spiritual quality of an abiding conviction that urges one on to accomplishment.
A very good friend of mine is in dire straits, facing one of his biggest challenges in business. He has been vilified and accused of poor management of crises, inexperience, carelessness, and abandonment of responsibilities. The quality of his service/product has been questioned by the same people that hailed and benefited immensely from his products and services.
He is an outstanding entrepreneur. But the stake lined up against him by friends and foes can only be overcome by persistence in character, approach, delivery, and fulfillment of hard-to-accomplish promises. While discussing his issues with him, I remembered the story of our Larsor Seasoning. A product that met difficult challenges, twice, in the face of stiff competition. Even our technical partners gave up on the success of Larsor Seasoning because the available infrastructure and environment posed production challenges that will require huge investments to overcome.
We refused to accept defeat. We were persistent in our convictions that we have one of the best seasonings produced in Nigeria. We continued to be persistent in our approach to overcoming our challenges. We kept the faith through persistence.
Today, Larsor Seasoning variants are sold beyond the borders of Nigeria. Persistency won. For every entrepreneur out there facing challenges of forex, inflation, production hiccups, mismanagement of goodwill, and incompatible partners and associates, find your best attributes and be persistent in using them to overcome your present challenges. Embrace the skill of persistence when everything is against you. In persistence, you do not let go and the only thing that may stop you is death. This is a very underrated skill in today’s business world.Usually, we withdraw, quit, or give up quickly because we do not get immediate gratification. We lack the sheer tenacity and endurance.
We like the idea of a long-term goal, but many of us will never accomplish it because our mind’s stamina is almost non-existent and our attention span is like a flash on the mirrow. We are inclined to give up as soon as something goes not according to our plan.More importantly, persistence works better or can be interchanged with selflessness. If your business is facing challenges, take “self” out of the equation and focus on saving your product or service, for the interest of your customers, employees, stakeholders and others but yourself.
In Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s Poems About Life, he wrote, “Perseverance remains the basic principle for anyone who wants success. You cannot creatively get anywhere in this life without the sturdy application of the PERSISTENCE principle”.
