Selective Persistence

A quality that many people admire in others is persistence. We’re always rooting for the person that gets knocked down and keeps getting up, presses on in the face of failure and adversity, and never quits. Perhaps we’d like to see more of that quality in ourselves. And while that’s a great target to have, perhaps presenting a more realistic perspective will help us in improving in this area.

Let me introduce you to the idea of selective persistence. It’s the exact same concept but instead of being relentlessly persistent, what if we saved our persistence for when it matters most?

This isn’t a cop out for not having mental toughness, this is a ‘smarter not harder’ strategy to reserve your strong-willed mindset for when you need it most.

It’s similar to the idea of having will-power. We’ve come to find that will-power is a finite resource. With that understanding, it’s almost irresponsible to rely on it to get stuff done because it can limit your ability to use it later in the day. That’s why there’s so much value in changing your environment and making pre-commitments, because it allows you to tap into different sources of self-discipline.

The same goes for your persistence.

So how can we be smarter about how we use our persistence? There are a few indicators:

If you start to get frustrated, that could be a sign to pause and reset.

If something is complicated, maybe that means it’s time to redesign it so that it’s easier.

If you’re trying to improve things but the micro adjustments you make don’t lead to sizable improvements that are congruent with the amount of effort you’re putting in.

That way, when you do encounter that thing that you absolutely need to get done and work through, you’ve got a reservoir to tap into so that you can meet the task and move beyond it. 

If you want to remove resistance from your life so that it’s easier to be self-disciplined, you start crushing your daily task list, and you take on challenges with more enthusiasm and confidence than you used to, it all becomes way easier when you take 21 days to install the Super Habits System. It will get you absolutely buzzing - hitting your goals and living your best-lifestyle.