The Art of Persistence
All of those “tools” I mentioned here and here are fine and can do the miracles with your consistency, but they won’t help much if your personal philosophy is wrong. What is personal philosophy?

“A system a person forms for conduct of life.”

You live, so it’s an axiom that you have some system for conduct of life. Your personal philosophy determines absolutely every output in your life. It directs all your actions. Part of it is your overall attitude towards consistency. It undoubtly affects your ability to stick with a long-term task or habit.

If your personal philosophy is messy, you need to adjust it before you attempt any consistent activity. If consistency is not something worthy in your worldview, then all such attempts are doomed for failure. The best techniques and tricks are not going to help you if your self-talk sabotages your consistency.

The good news is that forming a personal philosophy is a natural process which takes place around the clock, since you were born and to the minute of your death. It’s just a fancy designation for the process of absorbing and interpreting external sensory inputs. You only need to adjust it via your focused, conscious effort. I emphasize three pillars for an effective personal philosophy change:

1. Data sources.

Simply put, these are all the places you refer to for information: the books and magazines you read, the shows you watch, the podcasts you listen to, and so on. You can’t control every sensory input you get, it’s not humanly possible. But you have the power over which information you consume.

2. Internal interpretation.

Even if you completely transform all your data sources, it doesn’t automatically mean that your personal philosophy will be shifted. For example, if an atheist decides to read the Bible for 30 minutes a day and always murmurs “What a crap… I don’t believe any sane persons sees any worth in this garbage,” then the chances for spiritual growth are still slim to none. How you interpret the incoming data is just as important as what the data is.

3. People.

People can act both as data sources and interpretation of your inputs. You will judge the same information completely different if you read it somewhere on the Internet versus if it is delivered by a trusted friend with great emotional charge.

 

In order to tweak your personal philosophy, you need to change your data sources, people around you, and your internal interpretation, to encompass the concept of consistency as an important part of your life.

Below I mention some beliefs and convictions which you may find handy in keeping your consistency:

Success is a process, not destination.

You are bound to work for the rest of your life. Even if you reach a certain level of success, the world won’t stop at that place.

Time is your only asset; anything else is just a function of time.

Every action gives results; sometimes it’s experience, sometimes feedback, sometimes the output you desired. It’s never in vain.


The fruits of your work may serve others long after you are dead.

Each of your past experiences may be used to your advantage; each of them helped to shape who you are now.

Work on your important goals every day.

People are incapable of enjoying the same state for an extended period of time.

You can act only now; the past is settled; the future is still undefined.

You can do only one thing at a time; choose wisely which one.

Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.

Motivation doesn’t last. That’s why it’s recommended daily.

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Start Changing Today

The easiest part is changing your data sources. You can subscribe to a new blog, new YT channel, ditch watching TV, start reading business books or periodics. Those things are tangible and measurable. You can gauge your exposure to them in minutes, number of watched videos, or pages read.

Meeting new people is not very hard too. In the Internet era, you can do it virtually and it still counts. I’m involved in a few online communities. Some of the people I know from there I know only virtually. I’ve known them no longer than 2 years, yet they are very important to me. I’m always ready to do them a favor if they ask, to help them and support them. And I know they would do the same for me. Many times, they’ve already done so.

Your self-talk is another matter. It’s more “coo-coo” and less tangible. It’s also outside of the scope of this post. The best tangible practice you can immediately implement is to keep a journal.

This discipline gives you continual insight into your internal world. The best approach for changing your attitudes requires an incremental, stable way and daily journaling can help you immensely.

Consistency For You

I wrote a book about developing consistency. The Art of Persistence is available on Amazon for free till the 7th of April 2015. Download and enjoy it.

My close friends nicknamed me “Mr. Consistency.” I hope you’ll get similar nick after reading this book 😉

Your Mindset and The Art of Persistence

2 thoughts on “Your Mindset and The Art of Persistence

  • April 14, 2015 at 12:11 am
    Permalink

    Hi Michal,

    I like this post a lot. A lot of people really want to change at least one thing about themselves. It could be about motivation, anxiety, stress, work ethic etc.

    I see a lot of common traits which everyone seems to think it will just fix itself. They are using no ‘Art of Persistence’. It’s either hoping the problem is cured and it never is or using a temporarily solution which people don’t keep up with so the problem returns.

    I know this because I’ve been there. In the past I’ve placed a routine to help me solve something and once it’s going well, the routine stops and the problems returns.

    It all sounds so obvious and simple, but it is such a huge problem.

    Great post – No doubt the book will help many

    Naomi

    Reply
    • April 16, 2015 at 12:21 pm
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      “Success is the study of the obvious. Everyone should take Obvious I and Obvious II in school.” – Jim Rohn

      You summarized the process perfectly. I used your comment for a Tweet blurb 😀

      Reply

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