Perseverance
A phrase I learned as a child goes like this: Winners never quit, and quitters never win.
This has been true, at a very simple level at least, in my life. But it’s a little more complex than that. If you make yourself single of purpose and one-track in your life’s work, it is possible that you can achieve success merely by grinding it out on that one track no matter the cost. However, it’s also possible that one track will take you to a place you don’t want to end up, due to a twist you didn’t see coming. It’s also possible that the one track ends up being blocked by something beyond your control, and you can find yourself burnt out or hopelessly frustrated and broken from years of banging against that one roadblock.
So, I would add this to the phrase: Keep a few irons in the fire, and know when to adjust rather than “quit”. Things have a way of changing, slowly or suddenly, without much advance notice. It’d be nearly impossible to simply map out your whole life in one sitting and just follow the map (it wouldn’t be much fun to do that either). Knowing that there will be forks in the road ahead, don’t just give up at the first sign of adversity, but don’t be afraid to take good, alternate opportunities (nor to ditch the opportunities that haven’t panned out) either.
In short, perseverance should be tough and hard, but also wise and discerning. Here endeth the lesson on perseverance.
Bike Newbie 