Tenacity

Quitting isn't in my DNA, tenacity is.

Some find it frustrating, the way I drive at things with such focus and how I don't see quitting as an option.

It's cost me over the years because sometimes I push too far but generally it's worked very well for me. Tenacity is having the persistence and perseverance to keep trying until the goal is reached, dogged determination, and it works for me, intrinsic to my nature.

I apply it to all aspects of life and have reaped the rewards that come from tenacity and the never-quit ethos in good times and bad. It doesn't mean I don't decide a course, thought, attitude or action isn't suitable and make changes, it just means that when things get tough I stand up and push forward rather than give in and skulk away. I get knocked down, held and beat down, that's just how life goes, but I'm the stand back up and fucken get on with it, guy rather than the stay down and suck on it sort of fellow.

Applying it

Last weekend I wrote about a hunting trip I took the week prior in which I lost an item of my equipment, a bullet binder with ammunition in it, out in the bush that night. The post is called awareness and talks about the hunting trip, losing the item in the dark of night and heading back out there on the Saturday for several hours to retrace my steps and locate the equipment. I was unsuccessful.

I was annoyed on Saturday night, I don't like the thought of live ammunition laying around and that the bullet binder will cost me $135AUD to replace didn't sit well either. So, Sunday morning I decided to go back for another look.

I'd spent hours searching on Saturday, retracing my steps and grid-searching the areas I'd stopped, sat or went prone to shoot and turned up empty handed, but I thought it was worth another try. I'm not one to give up so easily, my tenacious side, and so I geared up for more hours of hiking, retracing my steps and searching.

I know it wouldn't be the easiest thing to find as it's camouflaged and not that big, but one more sweep of the area felt right. I'd been going for two hours when...yes, there it is above...I found it.

I'd actually already been over this ground on Saturday but I approached it from a different angle on Sunday and saw it from a few metres away. I was happy. It was soaked as it's rained for a few days and the ammunition inside was covered in moisture, but it's still useable and the bullet binder will dry out.

Over my professional life I have seen many people succeed and fail, it's intrinsic to being human and we learn from both.

What I've noticed is that those who display tenacity, perseverance, persistence and such similar traits seem to succeed more...yes, they fail more because they actually attempt difficult things and refuse to quit, but as they move forward they learn from those failures and the successes far outweigh the failures over time. They put themselves out there at risk knowing that to try, and keep trying, is the only way to succeed. As a leader, it's qualities like this I've looked for in personnel and worked to instil in my teams and have worked to empower each individual to build on them; a team is only as strong as it's weakest link.

It is interesting to note that those who didn't display the right qualities (or rise to them) tended to drift away and whilst I would always work to lift the person, some just cannot or will not and I was happy to see them move away to roles commensurate to their level of ability which left me with the good ones.

Tenacity is something every person can display and benefit from.

Whether its a student working towards good grades and studying hard, a single parent struggling to raise children but pushing on, an individual with financial woes they are trying to work themselves out of, a person seeking promotion at work, even down to someone writing on Hive and seeking to improve their content, build and nurture relationships and grow their account...it takes tenacity, persistence, dogged determination and the never-quit attitude. Show it, and things will happen, show it not and...not.

I had a great win on Sunday, finding my bullet binder in the vast bushland area in which I lost it in the dark of night days earlier. I don't credit my eyes for seeing it though, my legs for carrying me there or my hands for picking it up...I credit my tenacity for being there in the first place despite searching for many hours only the day before. That's the thing with life, seeking goals...we just need to show up sometimes, to have the mental, physical and emotional fortitude to brush defeat, fear and uncertainty off, stand back up and get after it once more.

Would you say you're tenacious? Do you determine and set goals then drive at them with dogged determination? Do you apply yourself persistently with success in your sights? Maybe you are less focused and easily defeated? Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject, stories if you'd like or just comment generally if you'd like to, I always respond.