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I saw Steven Speilberg’s film, Lincoln, last week. I could not stop thinking about how one man had so much impact on the United States. In the film, Lincoln’s conviction and values drove massive needed change. But the cost was high, in the lives of others, and in his own life.

Lincoln said, “A compass will point you true north, but it won’t show you the swamps between you and there. If you don’t avoid the swamps, what’s the use of knowing true north?” He was focused, but also maneuvered the obstacles to successfully achieve his goals.

Another great quote from Lincoln, “In order to win a man to your cause, you must first reach his heart, the great high road to his reason.” Lincoln was masterful in connecting others with his purpose and goals. He never relented from his pursuit of his goals, only diverted around those that would stand in his way.

If you like historical portrayals, I can highly recommend the movie, Lincoln.

I have come to the conclusion that if you want to improve at something, you must like the improvement process. Finding the process that fits you, and that you enjoy can be challenging. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

If you want to become better at getting things done and following through on commitments. You can try many approaches. You can try a daily system to track your to do list and action items. You could try finding an accountability partner. You could try a new calendar system that will give you better reminders. Once you pick a path to improve, there are still a multitude of options.

If you want to lose weight, again you can find many different paths people take. You can focus on reduced calorie intake, or increased exercise, or proper sleep, or reducing stress, or some combination. Select a path and then select the tools you will use.

Finding the right path and the right tools for either of these cases can be difficult. You can only be successful if you pick a solution that you enjoy, and that you can consistently apply in your life matching your personality type. You can’t copy another person’s solution. Not exactly, and expect the exact same outcome.

So how do you find the right solution? I would suggest making sure you know why you want to improve. Find the passion that is driving you. Then experiment with the tools. Find what you like. Always remaining tapped into your personal passion!

Francis Crick was the recipient of a jointly awarded Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for his work in discovering the structure of DNA. Paul Berg another well noted scientist remembers Francis Crick as being wrong most of the time. However, he noted also, that Francis had 10 ideas for every one that was truly brilliant. Francis had imagination and persistence.

How does a person become persistent? How can we become better at pressing on even in difficult times, and crossing barriers as they arise? Here are three habits that can help you increase your persistence:

1. Use your daily agenda: If you want to be persistent about something, it needs to be a part of your daily routine. Add it to your agenda. Make small steps every day in the area of your focus.

2. Reflect on your progress: Daily reflection can keep you see how and when you need to adjust to continue moving forward. Not every day will be successful. Persistence requires working through failure. Reflection is the tool that lets you see failure as opportunity.

3. Align the why and the how: It is nearly impossible to be persistent in an area that is not in alignment with your purpose and your passion. Trying to do something everyday that you do not enjoy or does not fulfill some need inside of yourself will lead to more frustration and less satisfaction.

Napoleon Hill wrote, “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” Being persistent requires learning a new definition of failure.

Francis died in 2004 at the age of 88. Until his death he continued to research theoretical neurobiology attempting to advance the scientific study of human consciousness. According to Christof Koch, Francis was editing a manuscript on his death bed.

 

I admire people with talent, and enjoy seeing people perform at the peak of their ability. I like to watch musicians, vocalists, artists, athletes, public speakers, actors, and so many more. For many people talent is very visible. However for the majority of us normal folk, talent is not as visible.

There are times when watching a great vocalist, and I find myself wishing I had more singing talent. We cannot all be great singers. How boring would this world be if we all had the same talents? Each of us have unique talents, and we can be more successful if we put them to use.

Talents are a great starting point, but talent alone is never enough. All of the people that have used their talent for great achievement did not find success just on their talent. Here are the three things that turn talent into success.

1. Hard work: Talent is developed. It is true you may have some natural abilities that strengthen your talent, but great talent is only developed through hard work. I have seen behind the scenes of many great public speakers. I have been taught many of the techniques they use to deliver a message and engage an audience. The audience does not notice them, because if they did, then the speaker would not be that good. John Maxwell is one of today’s most successful speakers on leadership, and he diligently started developing his talent when he was only 17 years old.

2. Passion: Passion is what makes the hard work seem like it is not hard work. Passion is what allows a person to dedicate their life to developing their talent. You must love what you do to be great at it. The best vocalists combine technical perfection with raw passion that you can hear in their song.

3. Perseverance: People that succeed in developing their talent do not fear failure. Everyone fails many times in their life. High achievers look at a failure as an opportunity to learn, or an opportunity to try a different solution. It is well know that Thomas Edison had nearly 10,000 experiments fail that eventually led to the development of the light bulb. Accepting failure as a speed bump and not a road block is an important quality for your own development.

Do you know your talent? Are you combining hard work, passion, and perseverance to develop it fully?