Many people fail in business because the only parameter they are keeping score of is money. If it’s making money happen quickly, they stick with it, if it’s slow, they move. In time, they keep moving around, thinking they are making progress. “A rolling stone gathers no moss!” is an age-long proverb that eventually adds up as the summary of their lives.
Just this Thursday, I listened again to the story of my friend and sister Omolola Faleye on her journey to The Makeup Fair Series; how she persevered and continued running the events without profit for 29 events before she finally become cashflow positive on the 30th event, over five years from when she started. Her story was a story of consistency and perseverance, and it was inspiring. Today, she’s done 100 Makeup fairs in 13 cities in Nigeria, and she has a boatload of lessons to share.
What makes people persevere? What is perseverance? These are questions on my mind, and hopefully, someone out there needs these answers to upgrade their hustle.
Perseverance is the ability to keep going, even when faced with obstacles, setbacks, and challenges. Here are some factors that can help someone persevere and keep building on the same idea or concept for years, even without making a profit or headway:
- Passion: A deep passion for the idea or concept can provide the motivation and drive needed to keep going, even in the face of adversity.
- Belief in the idea: A strong belief in the value and potential of the idea or concept can help someone maintain their focus and determination, even when progress is slow.
- Support network: A supportive network of friends, family, and colleagues can provide encouragement and help someone stay motivated, even during difficult times.
- Resilience: The ability to bounce back from setbacks and failures can help someone maintain their focus and determination over the long term.
- Flexibility: Being willing to adapt and change course when needed can help someone stay motivated and make progress towards their goals, even when the path is not always clear.
- Patience: Recognizing that success takes time, and being patient in the face of slow progress, can help someone stay committed to their idea or concept over the long term.
- Learning from failure: Rather than seeing failure as a reason to give up, someone who perseveres sees it as an opportunity to learn and improve and uses that knowledge to keep moving forward.
So what are you building? Are you passionate about it? Do you believe it will work out? Are you flexible, resilient, patient and willing to learn from your failures? If your answers are yes, then stay focused and committed to what you are doing over the long term, it may only take time, but it will yield and set you free!
Kind Regards,
Adeolu Akinyemi.
