By Marinne Hammond
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other”
At one point or another, we have probably all been told not to give up on something, whether it be a homework assignment, a challenging workout, or something as big as a career. We have also probably responded to such encouragement in different ways depending on the circumstance; perhaps one day, we are eager to push through a challenge, and another day, we might forgo a challenge in favor of comfort. However, when we abandon the easy route and do persevere through something that is hard for us, we feel rewarded at the end. Today, I want to explore perseverance and its rewards in more depth.
On our Personal Growth Module, perseverance is defined as “the ability to stick with and pursue a goal over a long period of time” (Warren & Bekker, n.d., Grit and Persistence, para. 5). What I like most about this definition is that it includes the element of time; in other words, perseverance is not just about completing a task, but it is about the time we deliberately choose to spend in order to reach that completion.
What can research tell us about the link between time, perseverance, and rewards? One study found that among skilled chess players, it was their personal study time, not necessarily playing the game against someone or being taught how to play chess, that predicted their skill the most (Charness et al., 2005). In addition, the most advanced chess players in this study had about 5,000 hours of study under their belts within 10 years. Serious personal practice does not only yield rewards in chess, but it can in music also. Ericsson et al. (1993) studied violinists and pianists, and a main takeaway of their research was that, similar to the chess experiment, deliberate practice for at least 10 years was a key determining factor of “elite performance” (p. 400). So, practicing a skill again and again, though it may take years, is perseverance that can lead to high achievement.
Psychologist Angela Duckworth (2016), in her book Grit: The power of passion and perseverance, explains that “One form of perseverance is the daily discipline of trying to do things better than we did yesterday.” But, what happens when we perceive this “trying” as too hard? This happened to me when I was about 10 years old. I had been playing the violin for a few years, and I was beginning to feel frustrated with how much discipline it took to improve my technique. I dreaded playing enough to be prepared for my private lessons. Quite frankly, I was ready to throw in the towel. I couldn’t see any immediate rewards in front of me for the amount of time I was dedicating to my instrument, and, as a child, the thought of continuing private lessons just felt futile.
Luckily, I had a mom who saw what I could not: the fulfillment of eventually becoming more than a beginner (similar to what Ericsson et al. (1993) saw in their work). She did not allow me to quit, and, as a result, I pushed through and started to see the joy that blossomed from perseverance. I kept practicing diligently and became a leader in my high school orchestra. Then, I went on to receive professional violin training in college. I can’t perfectly describe how happy I feel when I pick up my violin now, whether it is to teach, practice, or perform—but I can describe how I got there: practicing without giving up
I believe that just as much as practice plays a role in reaching a goal, so do supportive relationships. As I mentioned before, it was my relationship with my mom that stopped me from giving up on violin. Along my musical journey, there were so many other people that pushed me to keep going. I had grandparents who came to almost every performance, teachers who believed in me, and goal-oriented friends who inspired me as I saw them doing great things with their talents. One specific person that has helped me to persevere is my best friend who happens to play the cello. Just as people have “exercise buddies” that keep them motivated, I consider this friend my “music buddy” (as cheesy as that might sound). We have played together over the years, in orchestras, quartets, and duos. Sometimes we play at special events like weddings, and other times, we play together just for fun! We celebrate each other’s musical milestones, and empathize with each other when we fail an audition or have a bad practice session. I would encourage anyone who is persevering towards a goal to find a partner who has a similar goal, because this has certainly worked for me.
In addition to supportive relationships, below are some perseverance tips that may be of use to you:
If you have a goal or dream in mind, commit to a certain amount of time each day that you will study/practice/work on this goal.
Reflect on people who inspire you to persevere. In my musical pursuits, these people have been professional musicians or composers—Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, John Williams, Chopin, and so many others.
Incentivise yourself with rewards. If you’ve been persistent in working on your goal, consider treating yourself to a bowl of ice cream or an episode of your favorite show.
Make a vision board of what you are persevering towards. Hang it up in a spot where you can easily see it every day.
Perseverance, to me, is a beautiful thing. I believe we are meant for greatness, regardless of the obstacles we fight to achieve it. From all that I’ve expressed about perseverance, I hope you can take at least one main message with you: whatever your dreams are, perseverance is necessary and undoubtedly worthwhile.
“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn”
References
Charness, N., Tuffiash, M., Krampe, R., Reingold, E., & Vasyukova, E. (2005). The role of deliberate practice in chess expertise. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1106
Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance (Kindle ed.). Scribner. https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth-ebook/dp/B010MH9V3W/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=#detailBullets_feature_divDOI
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.3.363
Warren, J., & Bekker, J. (n.d.). Personal Growth Module. My Best Self 101. https://www.mybestself101.org/grit-persistence