A short motivational talk by Brian Tracy about persistence and self-discipline as the core qualities for overcoming adversity. Tracy ties persistence to character-building—arguing it must be practiced repeatedly to become habitual—and closes with a brief rhetorical call to action to subscribe. The piece references the poem “Don't Quit” and gives a practical definition of self-discipline.
Hello. Let's talk today about persistence. Your ability to overcome difficulties and adversities and obstacles and setbacks is the most valuable quality that you can develop. This quality enables you to use all of your other strengths and abilities to their fullest and their highest. Now you can learn the technical and academic skills necessary to be successful. But you cannot develop the gravel in the guts or the fight in the belly any other way except by facing and overcoming adversity so many times that it becomes a part of your character. There's a famous poem called don't quit, which has these don't give up. Though the pace seems slow, you may succeed with another blow. Success is failure turned inside out. It's the silver tint of the clouds of doubt and you never can tell how close you are yet may be near when it seems so far, so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit. It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. You see, the way that you become unstoppable is by refusing to stop. It's not a quality that you develop in a week or a month, or by reading or listening to something inspiring. It's a habit of mind and character that you develop by practicing the quality of persistence over and over in every circumstance until it locks in and becomes a permanent part of your character. Persistence requires, more than anything else, the quality of self discipline. Self discipline is defined as the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. And persistence is self discipline in action. The wonderful thing is that the more you discipline yourself to persist in the face of adversity, to bounce back from defeat and disappointment, the stronger and better you become. As you become a stronger and better person, your self confidence and self esteem increases. You become ever more capable of persisting and just as a result of persisting in the first place, just by exercising, you strengthen a physical muscle. By practicing persistence, you strengthen your mental muscles as well, and you ultimately become unstoppable. Thank you for viewing this video on facing and overcoming adversity. If you enjoyed watching this video, please subscribe to my channel by clicking on the button that appears on the screen. And whatever you do, don't quench it.
