Podcast Episode 106 - Three lessons on persistence I learned from my son
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Do you have a dream in your heart yet struggle to make it happen?
Are there steps on your journey that you're clueless about how to do it?
Have you tried and failed and now don't feel like trying again?
Today I'm sharing three lessons I learned from my 14-year-old son about persistence.
So today is for you:
If you ever feel like you can't do it.
If you don't know how to do it.
If you're not sure, you can make it happen.
Persistence is that thing that keeps us going regardless of the obstacles that come our way.
Last night my mom ran into the room and proclaimed, "I did it!! It works!!"
You see, my son has been trying for months to create a working boomerang. He had failure after failure, but last night he made a version that actually works!! Go, Evan!
Evan was persistent. He never gave up, even though it took him months to get it to spin and return to him. His persistence finally paid off, and he couldn't have been more proud of himself!
As his mom, I was incredibly proud of him too. So much so that I asked him if I could talk about him on the podcast. He said yes and told me how he kept going even though it took him so long to get a boomerang to work.
Yes, because God's called us to something greater than ourselves, and we must be persistent to make it happen.
It will take persistence to get past the obstacle in our way.
It's going to take persistence when we have to figure out how to do things we don't know how to do.
It will take persistence not to give up when we get tired of failing.
So, here are three lessons on persistence that I learned from my fourteen-year-old son, Evan:
1. Talk to yourself.
Evan encouraged himself every time his experiment failed.
Talk to yourself when you hit that wall.
Talk to yourself to keep yourself going.
Talk to yourself to encourage yourself.
"I can do this! I can figure this out! I’m worth it!”
2. Get help.
Evan tried things on his own, but he also got help from YouTubing videos on how to make a boomerang.
We don't know everything and what God's called us to is bigger than ourselves, so get help.
Find others who've been where we want to be and ask questions.
Watch videos, listen to podcasts, and read books and blogs.
3. Pick yourself up and try again and again and again.
Evan never gave up. He picked himself up, learned from his failures and tried again and again and again and again.
How long did he try? Until it worked.
Now, he didn't just keep trying the same version hoping for different results. That's the definition of insanity, so I'm told.
No, he tried something, learned what worked and what didn't, created a different version and tried again. Each version was slightly different.
Keep trying until it works.
You must develop persistence if you're going to do what God's called you to do. And the beautiful thing is who you're becoming on the journey as you're persistent!
Because our dreams aren't just a one-time destination… it's who we become on the way to where we're going.
Now, the biggest obstacle to persistence is fear. Fear of failure, embarrassment, incompetence, weakness, burdening others, etc.
So, if you need more help overcoming fear trying to hold you back from your dreams, pick up my free resource. Click here to get your Three Habits to Live Fearlessly Free.
This worksheet will help you overcome the fear so you can persistently fulfill your God-given purpose–courageously!