It’s not the most talented who “make it”. Those who “make it” (in whatever field it might be) are those who are the most persistent. Those who fall down and then get right back up. Those who are not stopped (emotionally, physically) by the word “No.” Failure exists for such people, but they are not stopped by it. They get up and try again. <\/p>\n
This all may seem a bit unfairly Darwinian (shouldn’t merit alone be the main factor?), and yeah, I can see that, especially when it comes to economic opportunity and all that. But even there, even there: there are those who are “stopped” by the fight, they can’t take it anymore, they stop fighting. Understandable. But then there are those who never stop, who feel the pain of being left out, held down, but keep trying anyway. Success is hard for everyone<\/i>. You must be persistent. Do what you have to do to NOT stop. Ever. When people talk about a meritocracy, the things that matter are, of course, talent\/gifts\/smarts. But PART of being “the most gifted” – maybe the most important part – is persistence. Dogged unstoppable persistence. With all the beauty of Viola Davis’ powerful Emmy acceptance speech (the best speech of the night), what I was also aware of was her sheer dogged persistence to get to where she wanted to be, despite everyone telling her “no,” despite years of playing parts not worthy of her, despite a fight against an industry and a world that does not want to see her in the roles she should be getting. She is an inspiration. But remember, remember what it TOOK to get her there. It was not talent alone. <\/p>\n
I’m not lecturing to you all. I’m lecturing myself. <\/p>\n
I can’t count how many times I have watched the following video. Every time I watch, I think about persistence. The fact that the person in the video is famous (Joaquin Phoenix) doesn’t matter: Even if the person were a stranger to me, I would think: Okay. Watch his persistence. Watch his unstoppable-ness. Watch the falls he has to go through in order to get it right. There’s frustration, bruises, anger because he can’t get it, but all the time – all the time – he thinks, he thinks about how to “get it.” The more you watch the video, the more you see. You can see the attempt, in the early stages – what stunt he is trying to do. And you can see him, through trial and error (major trial and error – he could have knocked his teeth out), start to make his way, painstakingly, towards the “move” he wanted to do. I think my favorite part is when he lies on the concrete, saying, “I FOUND IT” pointing to his head. He FOUND exactly how it was supposed to go, through repetition, through failing. <\/p>\n
I find this clip really really inspiring, especially when I get frustrated, or want to stop, give up. Here, in its purest form, is what it looks like to not give up.<\/i><\/p>\n
I can’t find the video on Youtube, so here it is on Facebook<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s not the most talented who “make it”. Those who “make it” (in whatever field it might be) are those who are the most persistent. Those who fall down and then get right back up. Those who are not stopped … Continue reading