Great workers demonstrate remarkable persistence. They often do this, however, by building on solid foundations that increase the chances of achieving success.
Such workers aim to follow principles that work. They then demonstrate persistence – whilst also continuing to improve – and do their best to achieve the desired positive results.
Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach in your own way. This often involves focusing on the following themes.
Principles That Work
Great workers build on their strengths and prepare properly before doing a piece of work. They clarify: a) the positive results to achieve; b) the principles that are likely to work; c) the plan for being persistent and doing their best to achieve positive results.
Imagine that you want to follow this approach in your own way. Bearing in mind what you can control in the situation, you may want to take the following steps.
You can clarify the positive
results you want to achieve
Start by clarifying the results you want to achieve. These will obviously differ depending on whether you aim to do a specific project, tackle a particular challenge or achieve a certain picture of success.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentence.
Positive Results
The positive results I want to achieve
by doing the piece of work are:
To …
To …
To …
Imagine you have clarified these results. It is then time to move on to the next theme.
You can clarify the principles that are most
likely to work to achieve the positive results
Belief is vital. So it is vital to follow the principles that you believe will increase the chances of achieving the desired positive results.
There are many ways to clarify such principles. Bearing in mind the results you want to achieve, one approach is to explore the following themes.
Looking back, when have I achieved similar results in the past? What did I do right then to achieve these results? What were the principles I followed? How did I translate these into action?
Looking around the world, when have other people achieved similar results? What did they do right? What were the principles they followed? How did they translate these into action?
Looking ahead, how can I follow some of the principles that work plus maybe add other skills? What are they key principles I can follow to increase the chances of success?
Imagine you have taken this step. If appropriate, you can move on to the next theme.
You can clarify your action plan for being persistent
and doing your best to achieve the positive results
Describe the specific things you can do to translate your principles into action. This can include how you can buy time to think, for example, when meeting certain challenges.
Great workers often rehearse what they are going to do before moving into action. This helps to develop their persistence and ability to deal with challenges. Such workers take the following steps:
They rehearse following their chosen principles on the way towards achieving the goals;
They rehearse managing any challenges on the way towards achieving the goals;
They again rehearse following their chosen principles on the way towards achieving the goals.
Imagine that you have followed some of this steps in your own way. It may then be time to move into action and do superb work. This may sometimes involves focusing on the following theme.
Persistence
Great workers demonstrate persistence. Building in mind the principles they believe in, they follow a certain rhythm. They aim to keep doing the right things in the right way. They then do their best to get the right results.
Imagine that you want to take this approach. If appropriate, you can take some of the following steps.
You can plan how you want to
follow your principles that day
One approach is to start by focusing on the results you want to achieve that day. If appropriate, you can rehearse how to follow your principles to do your best to achieve those results. It can also be useful to build in getting some early successes.
You can follow your chosen rhythm for being
persistent when pursuing your principles
You may then want to go through the following steps. First, you can follow your ritual for clicking into action. Second, you can follow a certain rhythm for being persistent when following your principles. Third, you can keep performing superb work.
Great workers demonstrate persistence when focusing on continuous improvement. They keep reading reality to check: a) what is working; b) what can be done better and how. They then implement these ideas and perform superb work.
Some people love the positive sweat involved with persistence. One person expressed this in the following way.
“I love being persistent. I believe in the importance of earning things rather than being entitled to things. This feeling motivates me on the ways towards achieving the goals.”
Great workers sometimes use setbacks as a springboard for achieving success. They build on what they did well and focus on areas for improvement. They use the setback as motivation for working to achieve the goals.
Imagine that you are following some of these steps in your own way. This can lead to the next stage.
Positive Results
Great workers continue to follow their principles, perform superb work and keep improving. Sometimes this requires both persistence and patience.
Such workers are also prepared to be pragmatic and do what is required to achieve the desired results. Sometimes this calls for taking time out to explore possible solutions.
Imagine that you are doing fine work but then face a challenge or an unexpected event. One approach is to ask yourself the following questions.
What are the results I want to achieve? What are the principles I want to follow when doing the work? How can apply these principles a pragmatic way in this situation to get positive results?
What are the possible options going forwards? What are the pluses and minuses of each option? Which option most fits with the principles I want to follow?
What is the option I therefore want to follow? How can I translate this into action? How can I build on the pluses and minimise the minuses? How can I then do my best to get positive results?
Let’s return to the piece of work you may want to do. How can you continue to follow your principles? When appropriate, how can you demonstrate persistence? How can you do your best to achieve positive results?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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