“Endurance is the steadfast capacity to hold on for one more day.”
When the going gets tough, many of us give up; it’s often far too easy to shift the blame, make excuses, or give ourselves reasons for failing to complete the task at hand.
- The absence of tenacity diminishes our ability to overcome our personal Serengeti. People frequently give up too soon.
Keep in mind that you always need to pace yourself.
- Pushing yourself beyond your capacity to rebound from setbacks will cause you to wind up like a sprinter trying to run a marathon – exhausted and left in the dust.
- On the other hand, understanding your limits and working within them will allow you to stay the course till the end.
Can you recall an instance where endurance has impacted your life?
Endurance is your fighting spirit. It’s what makes us get back up when we get knocked down.
We really only have two options: create barriers to hide behind, or find the strength to resolve the issues we face.
- While staying the course in and of itself is obviously not a guarantee for success, it is the number one skill that will see you through to the end.
You need a spouse, close friend, or close colleague who can give you encouragement and motivation on a regular basis.
- Enduring together is much easier. Remember, the wildebeest doesn’t run alone.
- You may need a more defined common goal and commitment to support each other through tough times.
People often reference the ability to endure as “weathering the storms of life.” It’s not whether we encounter them in the first place, but rather how we face and handle them that makes the difference.
- These storms can alter the course of life; the way we prepare to cope with them has a great impact on how we survive them, and whether we emerge from the experience stronger for having endured them.
Resource: Resilience
Every professional ordeal or personal hardship we encounter is an opportunity to hone this skill – which you might recognize in yourself if you exhibit the following characteristics:
- You have resilience and the ability to bounce back from adversity.
- You are adept at changing conditions and pressures from multiple directions. You see problems as challenging rather than setbacks.
- You are an individual with a competitive edge and are always willing to invest the time and effort required to accomplish tasks.
- You remain focused on established goals and plans in the midst of difficult situations. Every project represents your best effort regardless of its struggles.
- You have worked through the challenges you’ve experienced with stamina, tenacity, and confidence. Others consider you to be an exceptionally diligent and hard worker.
Whether it comes naturally or you need to work at it, tenacity is vital to achieving success. The actions below will help you improve your personal endurance capabilities:
- Take care of your physical needs and build your mental endurance by actively challenging your brain in difficult situations throughout the day – especially when you’re tempted to be mentally weak.
- Avoid escapism, the emotional uncertainty that says, “I can’t do anything about it.”
- Focus on discriminating between what is important and what isn’t, and direct your efforts and resources accordingly.
- The key here is to establish realistic goals and take steps toward reaching them by asking yourself: what can I achieve today?
- View problems with a long-term perspective, and focus on what you can accomplish versus what you can’t.
- Accept the fact that some circumstances are beyond your control, and while you may not be able to change some events, you do control the way you interpret and react to them.
- Remain flexible and patient while keeping things in perspective in order to take appropriate action.
- Hone your ability to quickly adapt and stay the course even when the going gets tough.
- Develop mutually supportive and caring relationships at home and at work to enhance your ability to persist through challenging situations.
- There is strength in numbers.
Remember that anything worth having, any challenge worth achieving, or any goal worth reaching will require endurance.
craving and resource from “Surviving Your Serengeti” by Stefan Swanepoel
