The Law of Financial Success
	Persistence <  Previous Contents Next  >

IN the last chapter we considered the subject of "Concentration," and I tried to show you what an important part it played in the workings of the Law of Financial Success. But, if you concentrate on one thing this minute, and another thing the next moment, and so on, flitting from one flower to another like the butterfly, you will accomplish very little. What is needed is a steady, determined, persistent application to the one object upon which you have set your mind. Having found the object of your desire and knowing how to concentrate upon it, you should then learn how to be Persistent in your concentration, aim, and purpose.

There is nothing like sticking to a thing. Many men are brilliant, resourceful, and industrious, but they fail to reach the goal by reason of their lack of "stick-to-itiveness." One should acquire the tenacity of the bulldog, and refuse to be shaken off of a thing once he has fixed his attention and desire upon it. You remember the old Western hunter who when once he had gazed upon an animal and said "You're my meat," would never leave the trail or pursuit of that animal if he had to track it for weeks, losing his meat in the meantime. Such a man would in time acquire such a faculty of Persistence that the animals would feel like Davy Crockett's coon who cried out; "Don't shoot, mister, I'll come down without it"

You know the dogged persistence inherent in some men that strikes us as an irresistible force when we meet them and come into conflict with their persistent determination. We are apt to call this the "Will," but it is our old friend Persistence— that faculty of holding the Will firmly up against objects, just as the workman holds the chisel against the object on the wheel, never taking off the pressure of the tool until the desired result is obtained.

No matter how strong a Will a man may have, if he has not learned the art of persistent application of it he fails to obtain the best results. One must learn to acquire that constant, unvarying, unrelenting application to the object of his Desire that will enable him to hold his Will firmly against the object until it is shaped according to his wishes. Not only today and tomorrow, but every day until the end.

Burton has said: "The longer I live, the more certain I am that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is Energy—Invincible Determination—a purpose once fixed, and then Death or Victory. That quality will do anything that can be done in this world—and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature a man without it"

Donald G. Mitchell said: "Resolve is what makes a man manifest; not puny resolve; not crude determinations; not errant purpose—but that strong and indefatigable Will which treads down difficulties and danger, an a boy treads down the heaving frostlands of winter, which kindles his eye and brain with a proud pulse-beat toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants."

Disraeli said: "I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a Will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment."

Sir John Simpson said; "A passionate desire, and an unwearied Will can perform impossibilities, or what may seem to be such to the cold and feeble."

And John Foster adds his testimony, when he says: "It is wonderful how even the casualties of life seem to bow to a spirit that will not bow to them, and yield to subserve a design which they may, in their first apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate. When a firm decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom."

Abraham Lincoln said of General Grant: "The great thing about him is cool persistency of purpose. He u not easily excited, and he has got the grip of a bull-dog. When he once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off."

Now, you may object that the above quotations relate to the Will, rather than to Persistence. But if you stop to consider a moment you will see that they relate to the PERSISTENT Will, and that the Will without Persistence could accomplish none of these things claimed for it. The Will is the hard chisel, but Persistence is the mechanism that holds the chisel in its place, firmly pressing it up against the object to be shaped, and keeping it from slipping or relaxing its pressure. You cannot closely read the above isolations from these great authorities without feeling a tightness of your lips, and a setting of your jaw, the outward marks of the Persistent Dogged Will.

If you lack Persistence, you should begin to train yourself in the direction of acquiring the habit of sticking to things. This practice will establish a new habit of the mind, and will also tend to cause the appropriate brain-cells to develop and thus give to you as a permanent characteristic the desired quality that you are seeking to develop. Fix your mind upon your daily tasks, studies, occupation or hobbies, and hold your attention firmly upon them by Concentration, until you find yourself getting into the habit of resisting "side-tracking" or distracting influences. It is all a matter of practice and habit. Carry in your mind the idea of the chisel held firmly against the object it is shaping, as given in this chapter—it will help you very much. And read this chapter over and over again, every day or so, until your mind will take up the idea and make it its own. By so doing you will tend to arouse the desire for Persistence and the rest will follow naturally, as the fruit follows the budding and flowering of the tree.