Quotes About Persistence

If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either. Part of leadership (a big part of it, actually) is the ability to stick with the dream for a long time. Long enough that the critics realize that you're going to get there one way or another…so they follow.

Here's an assignment for you: Write it down. Write down under what circumstances you're willing to quit. And when. And then stick with it.

most competitors quit long before they've created something that makes it to the top.

Quitting is better than coping because quitting frees you up to excel at something else.

On the other hand, when was the last time you heard about someone who stuck with a dead-end job or a dead-end relationship or a dead-end sales prospect until suddenly, one day, the person at the other end said, "Wow, I really admire your persistence; let's change our relationship for the better"? It doesn't happen.

The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment. The Dip is the set of artificial screens set up to keep people like you out.

The market wants to see you persist. It demands a signal from you that you're serious, powerful, accepted, and safe.

Successful people don't just ride out the Dip. They don't just buckle down and survive it. No, they lean into the Dip. They push harder, changing the rules as they go. Just because you know you're in the Dip doesn't mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don't last quite as long when you whittle at them.

For the rest of us, it's not about what you're born with, it's about what you do.

Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations. Reactive quitting and serial quitting are the bane of those that strive (and fail) to get what they want. And most people do just that. They quit when it's painful and stick when they can't be bothered to quit.

The lesson is that one person with a persistent vision can make change happen, whether climbing rocks or delivering services.

Stick with the Dips that are likely to pan out, and quit the Cul-de-Sacs to focus your resources. That's it.

What will make someone a linchpin is not a shortcut. It's the understanding of which hard work is worth doing. The only thing that separates great artists from mediocre ones is their ability to push through the dip.

the stupid thing to do is to start, give it your best shot, waste a lot of time and money, and quit right in the middle of the Dip.

Believe it or not, quitting is often a great strategy, a smart way to manage your life and your career. Sometimes, though, quitting is exactly the wrong thing to do.

real success goes to those who obsess. The focus that leads you through the Dip to the other side is rewarded by a marketplace in search of the best in the world. A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner.

Sooner or later, many idealists transform themselves into disheartened realists who mistakenly believe that giving up is the same thing as being realistic.

Simple: If you can't make it through the Dip, don't start.

The essential thing to know about the Dip is that it's there. Knowing that you're facing a Dip is the first step in getting through it.

the opposite of quitting is rededication.

Here's an assignment for you: Write it down. Write down under what circumstances you're willing to quit. And when. And then stick to it.

I can do this forever. It's like adjusting a pair

Tennis has a Dip. The difference between a mediocre club player and a regional champion isn't inborn talent—it's the ability to push through the moments where it's just easier to quit. Politics has a Dip as well—it's way more fun to win an election than to lose one, and the entire process is built around many people starting while most people quit.

Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organisations. Reactive quitting and serial quitting are the bane of those that strive (and fail) to get what they want.