Persevere and Never Give Up: The Path to Success

If you want to find true success, there’s really only ONE thing that you need to do: never quit! Never give up, never let fear or anything else stand in your way. No matter how hard it gets, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. It’s the only way you’ll ever reach the “summit” of your life.

The REAL Secret to Success: Just Keep Going & Never Quit!

Whether you’re looking for success in love, money, or just life in general, you’ll never find it if you give up. As they say, you can’t win if you don’t play! It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Just keep going (or, as Dory would say, keep swimming) and eventually you’ll reach your destination.

As with most things in life, though, it’s definitely easier said than done. A quick search brings up a near-infinite number of “never quit” quotes (I shared my favorites throughout this post), but very little actual advice on how to keep going when everything feels utterly hopeless.

Part of the answer is in the question. Just because something feels hopeless doesn’t mean it actually is. Let’s talk about that a bit, then I’ll share some other thoughts that I keep in mind when I feel like giving up.

Never Give Up on Hope. When All is Lost, It Always Remains

I think we all know the story of Pandora, it’s the one Greek mythology story that’s endured even thousands of years later. When Pandora opened her jar (contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t a box), she let loose all of the worst evils in the world. Yet one thing remained: hope.

The story sticks with us generation after generation because it reminds us that no matter what happens, no matter how awful the world gets at times, there is always hope. Always a possibility of a better tomorrow, a chance that things could turn around and go our way in the blink of an eye.

Hope is a powerful thing, and it’s absolutely vital to getting into (and staying in) a “never quit” mentality. The moment you let it go, you’re basically giving yourself permission to give up. You’ve signaled to your brain that it’s pointless to keep going.

So, above all else, hold on tightly to that hope. Constantly remind yourself that anything is possible, that a bad situation can turn into an amazing opportunity…because it’s true! Literally anything can happen at any time in our lives.

Every step forward gets you one step closer to your goal

The next thing you have to remember is that every single step that you take gets you closer to where you want to be in life. Every. Single. Step.

Some days, you may only put your toe a fraction of an inch forward. That’s okay. Those fractions still add up! Other days, you may find that you move in leaps and bounds. No matter what, if you’re going forward, you’re heading towards your goal.

Every step back or in the wrong direction just makes you stronger

Some days, you’ll fall a few steps back. Maybe you’ll even realize that you’ve been taking the wrong road for miles now and you’ll have to go all the way back to the beginning. That’s okay, too!

As you retrace your steps and head back to the fork in the road, you’ll be able to focus on the lessons that you missed while you were too busy learning them. They say hindsight is 20/20, and that’s not such a bad thing.

Yes, you’ll see where you went wrong and what mistakes you made. But you’ll also see where you went right, or where you could have gone right if you just did one thing differently.

Should you fall completely and break yourself a little in the process (metaphorically, I hope, and not literally!), use it as an opportunity to create something beautiful out of the pieces.

There’s this incredible form of pottery repair (it’s an art and a philosophy, really) in Japan called Kintsugi. Rather than trying to hide the cracks, they highlight them with gold. By doing so, they not only accept imperfection but embrace it.

If you live your life by that same philosophy, you’ll find that your broken pieces aren’t something to be ashamed of but rather something to celebrate. Every single one of them makes you stronger and teaches you a valuable lesson.

I found a great poem by Edgar Allen Guest that sums this up. It’s a bit long, so I’ll just share my favorite part from the beginning. You can check out the full poem here.

“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit, rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.”

There’s great power even in standing still for a moment

Some days, you may not move at all. Guess what? That’s okay, too. There’s great power in knowing when to rest. If you’re constantly moving, you’ll not only exhaust yourself physically and mentally, but you’ll miss an opportunity to just take in the full view that surrounds you.

So don’t just rest if you must. Rest…period. Give yourself permission to take a break and just take in the view. Those moments of standing still help recharge your mind, body and soul. They give you clarity. They may even help you find a new path to your destination.

Bottom line, resting is NOT quitting. Unless you’re a manta ray, you don’t need to be in a state of perpetual motion to survive. Even Blue Tang fish like Dory stop swimming occasionally so they can rest their fins.

Quitting is the only true enemy of success

There’s really only one surefire way to ensure that you don’t succeed, and that’s by quitting. You can move or overcome any obstacle that stands in your way. You can learn from mistakes, strengthen your broken pieces, and even start over if you find yourself miles along the wrong path.

But if you quit, that’s it. You’re finished. You’ll never reach your goals if you’re not even trying anymore. That’s just common sense!  The good news, though, is that you can always start again.

I’ll leave you with one last quote that I really love, from actress Chloe Hewitt. It goes,

“Don’t ever give up. Don’t let frustration knock you down. Don’t let fear stand in your way. Don’t let time get in your head. Who cares how long it takes or how many times you try? Your only competition is yourself. And when you finally succeed, the struggle will all be worth it.”

Remember, as long as you just keep going, you’ll reach your goals. Never give up, never give in. Never quit.

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