Whether it happens to be fame, money, glory, or joy; we all live for one thing – moments. Everybody has goals in life, whether it happens to be losing more weight, building better relationships with other people, finding an amazing girlfriend of boyfriend, or making enough money to buy a house and support family.
What happens, though, is that most people find themselves stuck in the same, daily pace or routine that feels something like a plateau. Everyday looks the same and feels the same. Even when we dream of something that we want, we get frustrated because we see no advances or improvement towards what we are aiming for in life, and the only option that makes us feel good is just an escape from it all – also known as giving up.
Well, I’m here to tell you that whatever you want to have in life, you need to fight for it. You need to find a way to breakthrough somewhere in the process!
Do you remember that movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks? He gets stuck on an island for four years. During that time, he is scared that he may die from sickness or hunger, but I remember him saying that he just needed to do everything he could to survive, and he did. He tried everything he could in his power with the scanty resources that came from washed up boxes and found a way to create something to help him get back into the ocean. Days drifting out into the ocean, he finally hears the sound of a ship. That was his breakthrough moment. His reward was his life. Though this is just the plot from a Hollywood movie (I sincerely hope you are never trapped on a desert island!), the lessons can be applied to everyday life.
Breakthrough moments usually require stubborn persistence and undying faith towards making thoughts turn into reality. Inventors such Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were examples of people who had these characteristics. Many people doubted what Ford wanted, which was eight cylinders cast in one block for a car engine. But Ford demanded his workers to keep working at it anyway even thought it seemed impossible. After a years’ worth of work, it was finally invented. The design was a breakthrough to help mass production of cars. Edison had to fail 1000 times before making the first light bulb to work. His breakthrough for us was the electricity that we use today.
When you breakthrough, life becomes a lot easier. You’ll have leverage for a long time. You’ve probably heard of Leo Babauta from Zen Habits or Steve Pavlina. Both of them are two of the most popular bloggers on self-improvement. Before the blogs became big, both wrote many articles until one day, an article got linked from bigger websites and other social media sites such as Digg and Delicious. They put their best effort into making that one blog post stand out above the rest and the result was that it brought floods of traffic to their website. That was their breakthrough moment, which eventually made them into who they are today.
Sometimes a breakthrough can be life threatening, other times they can be something that you just want to get off your chest. Here’s a personal breakthrough example of mine, although it may sound a little silly.
After breaking up with my first girlfriend, I had no idea how to date after that. When she and I became a couple, everything just kind of came together really quickly and I took the “pre-relationship” stuff (holding hands, kiss, etc.) for granted.
The biggest trouble I had was how to kiss a girl! Every time I went on a date with somebody after we broke up, it ended up in a really boring afternoon in which all we did was talk (even though in the back of my mind I was always wondering when me and my date would kiss). I tried many techniques such as more touching, and more eye-contact, but it usually came out awkward and weird.
Even though I failed many times and was close to giving up, I kept persisting. I got about 17 emails from different women. Half of them turned into duds, meaning they had a boyfriend, the e-mail conversation just died, or dates never happened. The other half just turned out to be friendly, casual conversations, in which no kissing occurred but more of a ‘nice meeting you’ sort of thing.
Finally, I was just fed up with everything. During a private ride on a Ferris wheel where it was just me and this other girl, I just told here simply that I liked her and was wondering if she liked me and wanted to kiss. This might not be the manliest thing to do, but surprisingly, she said yes! We kissed and have been going out since. She is my current girlfriend.
The point I want to get across is don’t be discouraged when things don’t go your way. Even if it may seem like you’ve tried everything and still nothing happened, find another way. If you keep on persisting you will eventually breakthrough.
When you do get that breakthrough moment, I can guarantee you that it is one of the best feelings in the world. Sports athletes practice all their life for that one moment, as do movie stars, singers, and other performers. Just because they are famous, it doesn’t mean that we can’t too achieve what they have done. They were once regular people like you and me! But what sets them apart from other people is that they did everything they could to finally breakthrough. You can do it too. Don’t give up!
Tristan Lee is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain. He enjoys writing and helping others with Self-Improvement – in other words, getting from the bottom of life to the top. To learn more about him, visit his website: FromBottomUp.com
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great post, tristan! i love the way you talk about persistence here and how you brought up the idea of finding another way. that’s such a key thing in life. when you try something over and over again, don’t give up, but don’t keep doing the same thing either. try something new!
Great post, man. This reminds me of my own issues – in several ways, I am hitting plateaus left and right. With persistence, I’ll be able to smash through them with a breakthrough. Sad thing is, by making one breakthrough and getting past one plateau, you end on another.
I really enjoyed this article Tristan. The examples of Edison and Ford were on point. We all have mountains, or at least hills, that we want to get over in our lives. We all look forward to those moments of breakthrough. I just try not to get so caught up worrying about the end result that I miss out on life in the interim. Thanks for encouraging readers to keep trying and never give up.
Very inspiring article. I learn a lot from this. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Dani. Exactly… people usually do the same things over, and although this is being persistent, it’s not always the smartest thing to do. Looking that small other outlook, whether it’s something new or from a different perspective, will help you get further in life.
Hey Brett. Haha, I liked how you used the words “smash through” and I definitely can relate to how you feel. Keep smashing through, and eventually you’ll hit a point where smashing through will become fun.
Hey Nea. That’s a good point. Aim for the result, but never forget to live in the moment. I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Hey Jan. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for this very honest post, Tristan.
AND way to go for just finally ASKING for what you wanted…funny how that works!
Persistence is so important, as long as we’re persisting at something that makes sense (Steve Pavlina trying to break through by providing valuable content vs. slogging away at a dead-end job every day and not creating anything new for oneself), and which is going to make for a fabulous end result.
I’m writing this from my hotel while attending Steve’s first ever workshop, and I’m not at all surprised we admire the same people!
Continued success to you,
Shauna
“Breakthrough moments usually require stubborn persistence and undying faith towards making thoughts turn into reality.” I like this quote, as it’s was showed how needed elements of contribution of stubborn persistence to make a breakthrough. The breakthrough moment are important on either break in or make in it.
Thank you for your post.
Great writing! so honest and real…
People who persist and risk themselves often find the predicament of breaking down half way, because of no result or “some result” at all. People who succeed achieve the results, in one way or another. Meaning it may not always be like we expected.
Reading your posts gave hope.
Thank you
Great post. Persistence is key in just about every area of life. Because those who succeed will not and do not give up they keep going. Thank you for reminding me to keep on keepin on.
Hello! I just wanted to say thanks for everybody’s comments so far. I’m glad that this article helped you guys to realize that we don’t have to worry about failure. Failing is okay and it’s just another pathway to success. Keep on going!