“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop” a quote most commonly attributed to Confucius. While, a there are a number of manuscripts from Confucius about introspection there is no evidence that this quote can be found in any of them.
That being said, anyone familiar with the old tale of The Hare and the Tortoise will already be acquainted with the idea that comes from this quote. The essence of this saying goes against the destructive advice that many usually see online, and that is that you somehow must work 12 hour days from dawn till dusk and give your 100% everyday. Unless you do that, then you did not actually work hard enough.
While in theory that comes across a logical advice, after all the harder you work, more you get done the more you will achieve. In practice however it is usually a recipe for disaster and disappointment. Instead, consistency, getting small things done over a long period of time is the surest way to achieve one’s goals without discouragement and a strain on your health.
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. Bruce Lee
Who was Confucius?
Confucius was an ancient Chinese philosopher who lived around 551 — 479 BCE. He was also widely considered as one of the most influential people throughout human history, whose teachings continue to permeate East Asian culture today.
Given how far back Confucius’ life was, his birth date cannot be exactly confirmed. Still, it is generally accepted that he was born on September 28, 551 BCE, in what is now Shandong Province in East China.
His parents died when he was only three years old. Although he was born into a class considered to be somewhere between the aristocracy and the commoners, he was still educated at a school for commoners. In this school, he learned of the Six Arts: rites, music, archery, chariotry, calligraphy, and mathematics.
What is the meaning of the quote?
The quote imparts a lesson that almost all of us have heard at least once in our lifetimes: slow and steady wins the race. This quote has spawned a number of other different sayings: such as “life is a marathon, not a sprint”, “haste makes waste”. Still, they all point toward one common meaning: the person who keeps going, no matter how slow, will consistently achieve their goal no matter how long it takes.
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. Ovid
In today’s world, where people are constantly bombarded with tasks, deliverables, and obligations, the fact that social media makes it seem like everyone else is doing something creates this false sense of urgency in our heads that we have to be moving fast to keep pace with the rest of society.
But the truth is quite the opposite. In fact, it is okay to slow down and even take occasional breaks. The most important thing is to keep moving forward, keep persisting, because at the end of the day, getting to the goal is more important than the speed it took to get there.
The Importance of Persistence
Throughout our lives, we will encounter difficult setbacks that will discourage and make us want to give up. They will have us question our self worth, if this goal is beyond our accomplishment. Sometimes, the setbacks may even make us think that it’s better to just quit because its too hard, the results are not coming fast enough etc…
However, in those moments where the challenges seem the most daunting, we should keep going. In “Don’t Quit,” a poem by Edgar Guest, he aptly ends his poem with the line, “It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.”
Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are.It may be near when it seems afar. So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit. It’s when things seem worst that You musn’t quit.. Edgar Guest
People who do not have a habit of persistence tend to lead unfulfilled life. They have many things that they started, but not much that they have finished. It is always better to have a few completed journeys than to have dozens of incomplete endeavors.
How many people do we know who were so close to their goal when they decided to quit? A lot. That’s just how life is. When it comes to our dreams, we never really know how far or close we are to our goal.
That’s why the most important thing is to always keep persevering despite the hardships and challenges, remember that you absolutely should not persist doing something that does not work, you must adapt and find out the approach which does, but that`s what persistence means. Persistence is a constant adaptable effort in making a goal or an idea come to reality. We should stop at nothing to get the things that we’ve always wanted but it does not mean we shouldn`t be adaptable.
Hard Work vs. Being Gifted
The issue with persistence is that its fleeting, we get tired, we get distracted, we fall back into our old habits.
However one of the most common excuses is that we start thinking we are not cut out for it, we are not talented enough, other individuals are better than us. We start comparing ourselves to others who might excel at the same tasks that may be much a harder for us to accomplish. We quickly find ourselves discouraged by seeing others getting more done effortlessly and in the same amount of time. While being talented does have its perks, you will be surprised that’s its not the whole picture when it comes to goal attainment. Here is why:
- Being gifted does not necessarily mean that you will succeed.
- If you’re a gifted person, hard work can transform you into a genius.
Being gifted just means that you have more aptitude, and you have an easier time learning things compared to others. While impactful it is not be-all and end-all when it comes to attaining success. In fact, gifted people tend to fail despite being gifted because they were raised to believe that things will come easy to them. So when they face their first significant challenges, many may give up right away because challenges are the opposite of what they are used to.
On the other hand, an average person knows that they have nothing special in them. They do not have the aptitude that gifted people have, so they know that they have to work harder to reach their goals.
It sounds counterintuitive, but this persistence mentality leads average people to achieve more success than gifted people. Both gifted and average people experience challenges throughout their lives. During these challenges, persistence gets you through, not your natural gifts. Indeed, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
Gifted people tend to rely on their natural advantages to achieve success in life. But one thing about hard work is that it can be cultivated by both average and gifted individuals.
We know by now that hard work and perseverance are the actual keys to success because these are what average people rely on. But suppose a gifted person also learns to develop an attitude of persistence. In that case, they could reach their true potential and transform into a genius in their field.
Nikola Tesla is one of the most recognized people in the field of physics, was actually well known for his overwhelming hard work. When Nikola Tesla was sent to the Polytechnic School in Gratz, Austria, he would start his days studying at three in the morning until eleven in the evening taking no breaks on Sundays or public holidays. (keep in mind not everyone can have such a harsh schedule, and not everyone should)
Tesla`s proclivity for hard work was so known throughout the school that his professors wrote his father a letter warning him that Tesla would “be killed thru overwork” if his father didn’t pull him out of the university.
Today, Tesla is known as one of the foremost inventors and electrical engineers of all time, a genius of his time, because of his inventions and discoveries, particularly the alternating current, our world is that much brighter today.
How to Cultivate Persistent?
So, now that we know that persistence beats talent, how do we go about cultivating an attitude of persistence?
The initial steps will slightly differ if you’re a gifted or an average person.
If you’re a gifted person, the first thing to do is accept that your gifts do not make you any more special. In fact, you should see your gifts as tools; they can make your life easier, but only if you put them to actual use.
Remember the hare from The Hare and the Tortoise. He had a natural speed that would have easily beaten the Tortoise, but he didn’t use it. Instead, he slacked off, which led to him losing. You should also remember that despite being gifted, you will easily be outpaced by the average person who is more focused and works harder than you do. You have to put in the work.
If you are like most of us, you should keep in mind that the playing field is the same for everyone as soon as challenges arise. Whenever you face a setback, try to see it as an opportunity, persist in getting over your immediate obstacle with determination and hard work. Soon enough this will become a habit and as soon as it does, you will see the fruits of your hard labor transform into lifetime accomplishments.
Remember to always starts with the small things. No matter what the challenge is, keep pushing and develop a mindset of “I must make it happen.” Because if you really want to achieve something, no matter what your talents are, it can be done with the right amount of persistence, adaptability, and hard work.