Positive Quotes & Stories 2
Persistence

By Joe Fermano

"If you want the rainbow in life, you gotta be willing to put up with the rain!"

"If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try!"

Sometimes, patience, perserverance and time are the simplest ingredients to achieving your personal success. If you really think about it, most great achievements weren't born until lots of time, enormous patience (with yourself) and unwavering perseverance prevail. So, ..let's now talk about a few people whose simplified formula for success: "P.P.T.", (Patience, Perseverance and Time) spawned great products! Our story is entitled:

"Never Ever Give Up"

What do the "Golden Arches", "Light Bulb" and "Chicken" have in common? Well, read on and I'll describe the common denominators of success that these ideas originate from.

Every 5 hours somewhere in the world a new "McDonald's" fast food franchise is opening. Can you imagine a business which opened it's door (or "Arches") in 1955 is still so strong today? Well, its founder Ray Kroc, sure did. Kroc, was no inventor. But he knew a great idea when he saw one. After all, Kroc's entire life thrived on discovering just the right idea that would live on well after the man himself. From a paper cup salesman, to real estate broker, piano player, and finally, milk shake mixer salesman, he always had an incredible amount of faith in himself!! Finally! At the young age of 52 his biggest idea (McDonald's) was about to emerge. However, Kroc had to muster enough courage in his new idea to once again mortgage his home and borrow lots of money to get it going. Oh! He wasn't a picture of health either. He'd been plagued by years of arthritis, diabetes, lost his bladder and most of his thyroid gland. But, he never lost the courage to persevere and believe in himself. In fact, Ray Kroc was known to say: "the best is ahead of me", according to those who knew him. The "McDonald"s" brand name is the 2nd most recognizable name in the world, next to "Coca Cola." Not bad for a 52 year old with health problems, huge debts, and tons of dogged determination!

Ray Kroc was a simple man with a simple plan to achieve huge success. His formula is:
#1 Never give up.

#2 Always persevere.

#3 Don't forget #1.

Chances are you're reading this article in a room with the use of lighting. Well, you can thank Thomas Edison for that. Did you know that Edison failed over 9000 (that's thousand) times before perfecting the light bulb! How many of us would have thrown in the "proverbial" towel at 20 failures, 150 failures or at the 8000th failure. In my opinion, Thomas Edison's picture should be under the definition "perseverance" in Webster's dictionary! Don't you agree? After Edison had invented and produced the light-bulb a reporter asked him how it felt to fail over 9000 times. Edison replied, "I was glad I found 9000 ways not to invent the light bulb! From this point forward Edison went on to receive 1,093 patents, more than any other person in U.S. history. Wow!! Edison's formula for success:
#1 It takes time for greatness.

#2 Be patient

#3 Persistence is key.

What's, "finger lickin` good" or "extra crispy"? If you guessed "Kentucky Fried Chicken". you're absolutely right! Try to imagine the faith, patience and perseverance necesssary to hear the word "NO" 1009 times! The founder of "KFC" (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Colonel Sanders was told no 1009 times before he sold his first piece of chicken. Sanders would drive from town to town, restaurant to restaurant, often sleeping in his car , living off his chicken and believing his "secret recipe" would one day pay off. Eventually his persistence and belief in himself paid off big time! Not bad for a 65 year old. Though Sanders never let the public in on his recipe, he did discuss his recipe for his success:
#1 Never quit.

#2 Always believe in you.

#3 Be patient.

#4 Be positive.

As you can see, the common traits between Ray Kroc, Thomas Edison and Colonel Sanders are simple and direct. Perseverance. Patience. Time. Belief.

Whatever it is you're trying to achieve in your precious and valuable life, I'm convinced these traits must be present. Especially, belief! If you don't believe you won't achieve.

Till next time... Make It A Great Day
Joe

Joe Fermano is the founder of the Positive Attitude Institute, an organization dedicated to teaching people how to believe in themselves, and make every day count. Contact Joe for more information about speaking at your convention, sales meeting, school, athletic team event, or group meeting. Email Joe at joeinvest@snip.net