“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; lawyer, politician, governor, and President of The United States.
This is PART 3 of a short series of blogs on Mastermind Leadership from a book I am writing, titled: “Inner Wealth. Outer Wealth.,” which deals with the spiritual, mental, and physical processes of all success achievement in life.
–Earlier, or in yesterday’s blog, I talked about Collective Mastermind and further specifics on forming a promising team which thinks and is driven like in your road to success.
I mentioned, among many other things, that if you want others to feel comfortable around you and work by your side, then, there is no other way. Human beings accomplish more and greater things when they work together towards the same goal.
Now, A little bit about persistence in the mastermind as the greatest organizational tool of the true and wise leader.
Greater organization is persisting through it all.
You must always have in mind that you have now made the most important decision of your life, which is to continue in the path to success, which, to be an earnest and heartfelt decision, should be based on discipline and deep love. Discipline to stay the challenging path to success, and deep love to regard your vision as sacred. Nothing exalts the mind of man more than an ambitious and sincere goal founded on pure love for the development of his vision, and nothing attracts success, in all facets of the human experience, more than an ambitious and sincere man with goals; so, it goes without saying then, that attraction quality living in the realm of the invisible cannot remain if the man with the ambitious and sincere goals has weakened and lost his way.
As we mentioned in chapter 1, “The most destructive and wicked force, and the most creative and beautiful force as well; therein lies all human power, all human achievement of good and evil, the mighty height of your Higher or Lower Consciousness, your hidden genius or your chosen mediocrity, your self-destruction or embraced immortality. Because it all depends on you, and just on you.” The key then is to recognize the conscious mind as just a tool, and not let it design fear and confusion out of the challenges you will encounter. This is the greater organization of your mind, which evolves into steely persistence, because in recognizing the conscious mind as just a tool then you become wise and resilient, able to withstand the blows coming from life’s challenges and the so-called “failures” you may encounter.
You do have to make perfectly sure that your own mastermind, your own mental planning and analysis of the way to your vision, and to develop that vision, is unflawed or as best it can be as a process of evolution, because this is the grand, dynamic, powerful foundation which will serve to build on and motivate you further, or keep you motivated and pumped up whenever negative things or thoughts appear in your experience. Challenges in life will only make you stronger and wiser to your goal if you have a strong and organized foundation, but if your foundation is weak and disorganized then they will depress you and bring you down with the first blow; so, like the professional boxer before the grand fight, you have to visualize the opponent beforehand and analyze his form and style, then you can understand the mindset you must espouse in order to be prepared to resist the blows or even to get back up.
Many men around the world never achieve great success, even though they might be extremely talented and clever, because of that very fact, they neglect the condition of mind they have to adopt, they do not visualize the challenges and issues which could rest in wait for them; but, what they are good at doing is visualize the ultimate goal of their desire and none of the blows they could receive on their path, and that brings the mind to a constant illusion which also weakens their decision and forms subconsciously so they fall hard on the ring mat when things do not go as planned. When things go wrong or not as you planned, do not panic or feel down like a sheep, be calmed and collected, tame your unruly mind and take charge like a lion, go back and analyze your plans and if you need to change them or tweak them a little, then, do it.
No real man achieves great success in any function by giving in to stress and fear, or by letting life’s challenges and seeming setbacks belittle him and his efforts; however, you need to incorporate into your very biology this universal law right now, that the harder the challenges presented in your life, the more you will receive from the universe in terms of success if you remain strong and resilient throughout those hard challenges. After those challenges, you will stand tall and mighty to get your rewards, and you will be a new man, wiser, more confident, more powerful, stronger of mind and body. Persistence is just that, not letting anything come between yourself and your vision for success. You are the driver and the one being driven, and you have to visualize the route you’ll take; so, if you take a bad route in spite of your good planning and efforts, do not fret and become a victim, take a rest for a moment and plan a new route, and again, and again, until you have mastered the meandering road to success.
Let us take as an example Milton Hershey, founder of the famous ‘Hershey Chocolate Company,’ which really embraced the mastermind process and became persistence itself. Mr. Hershey left school in the fourth grade and worked as an apprentice for a printmaker, but that did not work and soon he was fired. He then became an apprentice to a candy manufacturer in Lancaster, PA, where he studied and practiced the skill of making candy for about four years. Full of confidence and motivation then, he started his own company, who soon failed. Not giving in to stress and fear, he started another company, which, regardless of his planning, it failed again. But he had become the very heart of persistence by now, so he dust himself off and continued by building another company, which did not succeed either. Seeing that the companies, located in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, he had worked so hard to build had not given him the success his heart deeply desired, he went back in his mind and came up with new ideas and better organization of his vision.
He then moved back to Lancaster and initiated the ‘Lancaster Caramel Company,’ but now, with his own caramel recipe added, it became finally a success; however, he was a visionary and a true leader, so he knew that the future and the greater opportunity for him rested upon chocolate-making (because the Swiss owned that delicacy and he wanted to innovate it here in the U.S.), so he sold his caramel company for about (what would be considered in today’s currency) $26 million and started the famous and extremely successful Hershey Chocolate Company. And so, as you can tell from this great man, not only did Mr. Hershey persist through the many blows life gave him, but he also did it at home and helped embellish and strengthen the very spirit of his vast community by creating hundreds of jobs, by building churches, houses, and schools; thus, he became cemented as a true legend and hero for many in Pennsylvania.
Henry Ford, for example, designed extremely great success and prosperity, not because he possessed a higher intellect than you or anybody else, but because he created his own mastermind, individual and collective, and so organized his ideas through real commitment and persistence. Persistence in the face of adversity is key to accomplishing everything you really want in life. See, Mr. Ford knew that he wasn’t the most qualified and educated, cunning and talented, person in the world, but he never let that weak fact bring down his vision and passion for success; for he, like Hershey, had something most men with better education and higher intelligence, and even money for a smoother business ride, did not have: PERSISTENCE.
Tomorrow, PART 4 of Mastermind Leadership, about delegating, its importance in all growth, and its extreme organization.
- Asa Rodriguez - 