A Lesson on Persistence
In her typical style, Professor Izmir placed her bag to the side and turned her full attention to the class. There was a fierceness and resolve in her eyes that was unmistakable. It was going to be a long lecture, I thought to myself.
“Just by taking this class you have proven that you are different than over 90% of the people who inhabit this earth,” she began. “There are millions of people who refuse to learn and grow. You, on the other hand, are searching for more from your life instead of settling for a life of mediocrity. You, it seems, are searching for something more from life!” she exclaimed as the class buzzed with energy.
“However, as you embark on this journey, recognize that this is just the start. There is no successful person who hasn’t faced countless barriers to become who and where they are today. They had an inner drive, a passion that forced them to keep going regardless of what they faced. They kept at it despite their perceived limitations. They kept pushing. Look at what Mark Twain says,” continued Professor Izmir as she pressed the clicker and the projector screen lit up.
“Nothing else mattered to these individuals,” she continued. “They took risks and went beyond their comfort zone. They knew that if they kept at it, they would eventually accomplish their goals. They understood that progress equals happiness; for them to realize true happiness, they have to continue making progress day in and day out. Remember, often, with enough persistence, most things that initially seem impossible become possible,” said Professor Izmir as she pressed the clicker again.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)
30th President of the United States
Once she was satisfied that the students were done taking notes, she continued. “I also brought a few more quotes from your favorite actor,” she added with a soft chuckle.
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The first step, before anybody else in the world believes it is you have to believe it. There’s no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A. I think that there’s a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different than what has happened for the past 50 million years of history, you have to believe that something different can happen.
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Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves they wanna tell you you can’t do it. You want something, go get it, period.”
Will Smith
Actor
“And now it’s time for one of my all-time favorites,” she continued as the students leaned forward in their seats.
“When I was your age a couple of decades ago,” she laughed before continuing. “I came across a poem by Berton Braley that gave me strength
time and time again. It helped me get back up after every defeat. I hope it will do the same for you,” she continued as she pulled up another slide.
Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it
If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry and cheap for it
If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,
If you’ll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,
If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it!”
Berton Braley
American Poet
Professor Izmir raised her mug to take a few sips of coffee as the students read intently. I scanned through the poem quickly a couple of times. I knew I would get the slides later, but I tried to copy as much as I could. Just as Professor Izmir was about to continue, there was a loud sob from the front of the class. A girl in the front row began crying upon reading the poem.
Professor Izmir put down her mug immediately and made her way over to where the girl was sitting. She signaled the student to stand up and after wiping her tears, Professor Izmir gave her a tight hug.
As she pulled back from the embrace, she looked straight in the girl’s eyes and emphasized, “Child, things will get hard. They will get very hard. But you must never, and I repeat never, lose faith! It is easy to have faith when things are going your way; however, it is when everything is tearing you down that you must search for the inner strength to keep going,” she continued.
The girl responded with a smile and sat down. The girls sitting next to her began to console her as Professor Izmir walked back to the front.
“You all are very special, children. Never forget that,” said Professor Izmir, as she wiped a tear off her cheek. “I want you to keep dreaming despite how hard life hits you,” she continued.
“Having a dream gives you something to look forward to; a dream gives you the motivation to wake up in the morning and get out of bed,” she continued.
A student raised his hand and Professor Izmir signaled him to continue.
“Professor, how do I know what my dream is? There’s a lot of things I want to do” said the student.
“Sure, great question. Let’s talk about that for a bit,” said Professor Izmir as the students got their pens ready.
“In my experience, it boils down to asking yourself what gives your life meaning and value. What, if anything, could you accomplish in life that would give you satisfaction on your deathbed? What would make your sacrifices of time, energy, and commitment worth making? What would justify your priceless tears?” stressed Professor Izmir in an empathetic tone.
“As director Steven Spielberg says, your dream always whispers. It never really shouts. He says that ‘Dreams come from behind you, not right behind your eyes.’ Therefore, you’ll find that you’ll have to listen very hard to figure out what gives your life meaning. However, once you find what it is, go after it with all you’ve got. You only have one life,” emphasized Professor Izmir.
“Now, as you said,” continued Professor Izmir pointing in the direction of the student who had asked the question, “you may find that there are a couple of things that inspire you and that’s alright. At this point, you may benefit from using the regret minimization concept,” said Professor Izmir. The students studiously gazed at her.
“What are some things that you would regret not doing at age 80? As the American business magnate Steve Jobs said, ‘Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.’,” stressed Professor Izmir.
“This approach and mindset allows you to cut off unimportant things from your life,” she continued, as she took another sip. “We’re not going to be here forever, so we might as well do the things that truly matter. Does that help?” she asked the student. The student nodded his head and Professor Izmir continued.
“Great. Now, we’ve talked a lot about persistence and how to figure out what gives your life meaning and value. Let’s talk a bit now about success and what constitutes success,” said Professor Izmir as I grabbed my pen. What does success mean? According to Dad, success meant having a secure and high paying job, a nice car, a big house, and at least one vacation every year. I wondered how Professor Izmir would go on to define it.
“Well, children, the best definition of success I have come across so far was shared by Earl Nightingale in one of his rare recordings and now I want to share it with you,” said Professor Izmir.
“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal,” she added before taking a pause and putting down her mug. Seeing the dumbfounded expression on our faces, Professor Izmir continued.
“Children, success is nothing more than the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. What this means is that any person who knows what they are doing and where they are going is a success. Any person with a goal towards which they are working is a successful person. And I want to emphasize the word progressive,” said Professor Izmir with added emphasis.
“It doesn’t matter how much you work towards your dream as long as you keep working on it. In my personal experience, I have found that the best way to start working on a goal or dream is to start small and gradually build on it. You don’t have to necessarily make a lot of progress in the first few days, weeks, months, or even years - all you have to do is commit to the process and convince yourself that you will accomplish that dream no matter what. Nothing can be accomplished without fully committing and dedicating yourself. You may be lucky at times but more often than not, the harder you work, the luckier you’re going to be!” she exclaimed.
“Jim Rohn, who we came across before, used to say that success is looking for a good place to stay. He used to say that if someone gives you a million dollars, it was best that you became a millionaire quickly!” gushed Professor Izmir which got a few laughs from the students.
“I think what he meant to say was that everything you get in life, you must deserve. It’s never about what you want but what you’re willing to give in order to achieve. The next time you’re upset at your current situation in life, ask yourself what you can do to develop yourself and give more value to the world. The more valuable you can be to the marketplace, the more rewards you will reap,” declared Professor Izmir.
“A related concept when it comes to value is suggested by leadership coach John Maxwell who suggests that every morning before you get out of bed, you should ask yourself – ‘Who you can add value to today and how?’. He further goes on to say that you should end your day by asking - ‘Who did I add value to today and how?’ which allows you to evaluate the value you are bringing to the world,” continued Professor Izmir.
“Now, if I was to ask you what the most valuable currency is, most of you would come up with different currencies. But my dear children, in reality, you are the most valuable currency that you will ever have!” she exclaimed.
“Regardless of wherever you take this currency in the world, you will be able to reap rewards in accordance with how much you’ve invested in yourself,” continued Professor Izmir with a smile.
“Tell me something, if you are pursuing this degree and know where you’re headed, wouldn’t you consider yourself a success?” asked Professor Izmir. The students nodded their heads in unison.
“Correct! As long as you know where you’re going and you’re making daily progress in that direction, you are a success in my dictionary. Now, the goals and direction you set for yourself depend on what you believe is possible for you and what gives your life meaning and value,” she continued.
“I have a lot of faith in you all. As I said, the reason you are here today is that you don’t want to wake up one day and realize that you let the opinions of others and your indifference stop you from doing what truly mattered most to you. As you go<