Page 183 - TAGR-Companion Text

PERSISTENCE 183
170 And here is an encouraging statement which carries with it a suggestion of great
171 significance – THOUSANDS OF SINGERS WHO EXCEL KATE SMITH
172 ARE WALKING UP AND DOWN BROADWAY LOOKING FOR A
173 "BREAK", WITHOUT SUCCESS. Countless others have come and gone, many
174 of them sang well enough, but they failed to make the grade because they lacked
175 the courage to keep on keeping on, until Broadway became tired of turning them
176 away. Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated.
177 Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them
178 these:
179 a. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. Knowing what one wants is the first and,
180 perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A
181 strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.
182 b. DESIRE. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in
183 pursuing the object of intense desire.
184 c. SELF-RELIANCE. Belief in one's ability to carry out a plan encourages one
185 to follow the plan through with persistence. (Self-reliance can be developed
186 through the principle described in the chapter on auto-suggestion).
187 d. DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Organized plans, even though they may be
188 weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
189 e. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. Knowing that one's plans are sound, based
190 upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; "guessing" instead of
191 "knowing" destroys persistence.
192 f. CO-OPERATION. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation
193 with others tend to develop persistence.
194 g. WILL-POWER. The habit of concentrating one's thoughts upon the building
195 of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose, leads to persistence.