Persistence is more important than education, wealth or experience!

Ever make that perfect shot and score a goal?  Have a perfect interview and land that awesome job! My life experiences tell me that more often then not success comes incrementally.  That persistence and determination are often times more important to success than people are willing to allow themselves to believe.  I would propose that persistence is actually more important than wealth, education, or experience.   You can obtain all three of these by persistence but it doesn't work the other way around.

From the time my oldest son was twelve years old he wanted to be a chef.  My numerous attempts to persuade him to reconsider all failed.  Although I was persistent, he was actually determined and persistent on obtaining his goal.  In 2012 he graduated from Robert Morris University in Chicago with a BA in Professional Services with an emphasis in Culinary Arts.  To him that was just the first step on a road to success and his persistence has lead him to working as a chef at the famous Scwha in Chicago.  Sounds like a normal success story doesn't it?   A degree (education) leads to a career.   If that's what you've heard I've done a poor job of making my case.  Let me try again.   He made that decision at twelve years old.   He doesn't like school and has always preferred learning by doing.   He was home educated all the way until college and despite popular opinion that's actually harder then public schools.  In 10th grade he took his first community college course and even though it was difficult for him, he didn't give up.  The college he finally decided to attend uses an accelerated schedule which in theory leads to obtaining your degree sooner.  He did have the option to skip attending school during the summer, instead he choose to be persistent and work through both summers to finish his BA in 3 years.  He disliked college so much that the first summer he actually told me "If I stop for the summer dad, I won't go back".  After college he worked in various kitchens choosing different style restaurants to find his niche.   Unfortunately, he could not seem to break into the "fine" dining restaurants.  Again, his persistence paid off, after two interviews a year apart, he "staged" for the fine dining position he wanted at Schwa.  That's persistence and that's why it's so important. Incremental success is a pathway to larger successes and is obtained by being persistent.

It has taken persistence for me to obtain my real estate licenses and get setup to sell real estate in Virginia and West Virginia.  Almost 1 year ago I started down that path and as of yesterday I'm now licensed in both states, a member of the Blue Ridge Realtor Association Inc. (BRAR), and I have access to the MLS.  I've been persistent, success has been incremental, and I know it will be leading to larger successes.