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persistence progress“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

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“The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret of outward success.”

Henry Ward Beecher

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Some people are born with a silver spoon <with money & status in Life>.

Some people are born with some extraordinary talent <albeit all of us born with some talent for something>.

easy hard said

Well.

Let’s be clear.

Those “some people” are certainly guaranteed some aspect of ‘easy’ or ‘easier’ in their lives.

However.

Those ‘some people’ have no Life guarantees … they are not guaranteed greatness nor are they guaranteed to slide down into derelict status.

The only real guarantees in Life are not external driven but internal driven … the engine that makes Life go is … uhm … you.

 

And speaking of the ‘you engine’ … while persistency is a nice thought I would suggest participation is the key.

 

<1>    If you participate you have a chance of elevating whatever you have to offer.

<2>     If you persistently participate I guarantee, yes, guarantee, … you will elevate above the majority.

 

Now.

You not only have to participate externally <involve yourself in the game of Life> but you also have to actively participate, with some persistence, within yourself.  You have to start the engine and engage the gears and keep it well oiled and … well … you get the metaphor.  Suffice it to say that the engine, whatever ability & physical/mental/intellectual resources you have available to you do not run on their own.

You have to be actively nurturing.

You have to be persistently honing your talents.

At the basis for my belief in what I say is that ‘good’ deteriorates without nurturing … and, maybe worse, never even has a chance to blossom without participation.

At the basis for my belief is that talent is not eternal. It naturally diminishes.

Actively participate with whatever you got and you can improve upon talent with determination and persistence and you can elevate it to some extraordinary place so that when at some point you want to relax it starts slipping downwards to a place where others reside. But, oh shit … let it lie dormant and it diminishes. No participation and everything, even your talent, simply atrophies.

 

Okay.

Babbling aside let me share the simple formulas for participation, persistence, talent and derelicts.

 

–       If you have no talent <or don’t identify the talent you do have>, and are not persistent … you are not a derelict … you are most likely living in your parents basement writing a blog about conspiracies and wearing a tin foil hat.

–      If you have a passion, and persistently pursue that passion, and … well … you have no particular talent for what you are doggedly pursuing … you are a frustrated unhappy person.

<note … lets say you are persistent enough to do the 10,000 hour Gladwell ‘expert’ path … despite Gladwell’s bullshit theory  – https://brucemctague.com/limitations     –  you will most likely attain at least competency status … and will still be frustrated and unhappy because with all that persistency you don’t seek being ‘competent‘>.

talent persistent participate–      If you have talent and are not persistent … well … you are a derelict <good education or not>.

Worse. You are one of the silly people who have wasted their talent.

–      If you have talent and persistently nurture and use that talent you will be successful.

<note … not all talent is created equal … you can have ‘good’ talent and someone can have ‘great’ talent and while it sucks … all things equal … if both are persistent and determined … great will always be better than good>.

–      If you have talent and passion and are persistent … you actually have a chance of being the best of the best … laughing at the derelicts who may have had the same talent <and a shitload of education> but no passion and nor persistent determination. You also have a shot, not guaranteed but a shot, to actually be better than someone who is talented and simply is persistently dogged about being good at their art/skill … but it is not driven by a passion to be the best.

 

Look.

Formulas aside … we all have some capability and if we are persistent enough when focused on that capability we will most likely do relatively well in life. Society throws us a bullshit curve ball suggesting that Life is some competition in which your talent & persistency should be measured against others.

What bullshit.

The competition resides within ourselves … not to be measured against anyone else.

And, frankly, while we as individuals are unique and original … most likely most of us have some capability or talent that falls into the “a shitload of people can do something pretty similar.”

Who cares if someone else can do it? You should just care that you can do it. And go do it <rather than sitting around wondering how you can be better than someone else or have some unique skill>.

do your best boy

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“And while I’d like to lay claim to some extraordinary act of originality, truth is I’m only taking advantage of capabilities inherent in everyone.”

Mark Z Danielewski

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Just remember.

The first, and last, step to avoid being a derelict is to realize that we each have a role that requires us to persistently attend to Life and our talent, we have to participate internally & externally and, lastly, assume responsibility for shaping our own future. Everyone has some talent the difference usually resides in who actually uses it & who does not.

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Written by Bruce