{"id":834,"date":"2020-12-15T03:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T03:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/?page_id=834"},"modified":"2020-12-22T02:27:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T02:27:24","slug":"elementor-834","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/?page_id=834","title":{"rendered":"Perseverance – Vanquishing Skepticism, One Non-Believer at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Perseverance: Vanquishing Skepticism, One Non-Believer at a Time<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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While venturing down the corridor of achievement, there are a number of keys required to open all the locked doors leading to what you want most in life, and there\u2019s no debating that one of the most crucial keys to have in your possession is perseverance.\u00a0 How often do you hear anecdotes of someone with a propensity of giving up easily ever achieving something great?\u00a0 Knowing what you want and devising a strategy to obtain it is one thing, but having truly unshakable confidence in yourself, impenetrable positivity, and a relentless drive in the face of adversity will grant you passage deep into that corridor.<\/p>

While it\u2019s not uncommon to hear inspirational stories of perseverance from celebrities like Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson and high-powered CEOs like the late Steve Jobs, the story<\/a> of how Sylvester Stallone went from rags to riches is arguable one of the most compelling tales of never giving up on your dreams and the power of believing in yourself.<\/p>

As a struggling actor, Stallone was rejected over 1,000 times by agents largely due to his paralysis disability in his lower left jaw resulting in slurred speech.\u00a0 As the rejections piled up, he faced some extremely hard times financially.\u00a0 He sold whatever he could to try and pay the bills, including his wife\u2019s jewelry.\u00a0 However, it wasn\u2019t enough and he found himself homeless, living at a New Jersey bus terminal for weeks.\u00a0 The lowest point in Stallone\u2019s struggle was when he sold his dog to a stranger outside a liquor store for $25, as he could no longer afford to feed his best friend.<\/p>

The turning point for Stallone came when he watched a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner.\u00a0 Inspired, he immediately got to work and wrote for 20 hours straight, cranking out the script for Rocky<\/u>.\u00a0 A studio offered him $125,000 for the script, but Stallone had one request\u2026 he wanted to star as Rocky Balboa.\u00a0 The studio laughed and refused the stipulation.\u00a0 They wanted a \u201creal\u201d actor.\u00a0 In spite of his financial hardship, Stallone walked away from the offer.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, the studio approached him, doubling their offer for the script to $250,000.\u00a0 Believing in himself and knowing this was the best opportunity he had to get a leading role, he declined the offer.\u00a0 The studio went as high as offering $350,000 for the script.\u00a0 Again, Stallone refused.\u00a0 If he was going to make it as an actor, he knew he needed to be the Rocky<\/u> front man.<\/p>

Some time passed and the studio finally gave in to his request.\u00a0 The new offer was $35,000 and the agreement to cast him in the leading role.\u00a0 Stallone accepted and his stardom was born.\u00a0 Stallone went on to be nominated for the Best Actor category at the Academy Awards, and Rocky<\/u> walked away with Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Directing, and Best Picture.<\/p>

Stallone showed exemplary perseverance as he turned down a small fortune multiple times, all while he was struggling to keep a roof over his head.\u00a0 He knew what he wanted, and he was willing to sacrifice everything he had to realize his dream of being an actor.\u00a0 He knew if he took a normal job it would slowly eat away at his drive to achieve his dream.\u00a0 At first, it would divert his focus and time.\u00a0 Then, complacency could set in if he didn\u2019t have to scrap for a living on a daily basis.\u00a0 Instead, he capitalized on the pain of his plight and became one of the most famous actors of all time, appearing in over 70 films.<\/p>

(As a side note, he tracked down the stranger who purchased his dog outside that liquor store and bought him back\u2026 for $15,000!)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cWhen obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.\u201d - Zig Ziglar<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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If it wasn\u2019t for the perseverance of others throughout history, our lives would be very different today.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 What would life be like if Thomas Edison gave up after a few hundred attempts at developing the light bulb, or if Alexander Graham Bell threw in the towel at the frustration he experienced before successfully testing an operational telephone?\u00a0 Where would we be without the numerous failed attempts at creating flying machine prototypes by Orville and Wilbur Wright before creating the world\u2019s first airplane?\u00a0 What if Benjamin Franklin didn\u2019t spend countless hours inventing the Franklin Stove and the lightning rod?\u00a0 Without the perseverance of these inventors, we would be exposing our homes to open flames every evening for light and heat, wishing we could talk to or see our loved ones who live in distant locations, all while hoping the lightning storm outside wasn\u2019t going to destroy our homes and community.\u00a0 The world would be very different if it wasn\u2019t for those who tirelessly poured their heart, sweat, and tears into creating such inventions to improve our quality of life.\u00a0<\/p>

Whether you are an inspiring actor or a future revolutionary inventor, one extremely important characteristic of perseverance is to not pay heed to those who mock you for your goals and dreams.\u00a0 Undoubtedly, if you are working to achieve something non-traditional or something that\u2019s never been done before, there will be no shortage of folks during your journey who will ignore, laugh, ridicule, and discredit you and your efforts.\u00a0 There are a number of reasons why people display this type of behavior including personal insecurities and jealousy of what you might actually achieve.\u00a0 This behavior is especially prevalent in the workplace as there is almost always some element of perceived competition between individuals, regardless of position or department.\u00a0 These folks don\u2019t want their coworkers to succeed in achieving something extraordinary, in fear of having their self-affirmed prominence be outshined by another.\u00a0 It\u2019s absolutely critical that these negative forces are never allowed to get a firm grasp of your ambition as it\u2019s hold will slowly, but continually, tighten and eventually choke out the resolve you once exhibited.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A great example of upholding one\u2019s unwavering conviction in the face of public ridicule is the story of Robert Goddard.  Goddard had the revolutionary vision to utilize liquid fueled rockets to advance our ability of flight, but the scientific community mocked him for his preposterous ideas.  Not letting the societal negativity deteriorate his commitment, Goddard pressed forward with his research and helped move humanity into an age of space exploration.  Over the past number of decades, our exploration of the final frontier has resulted in numerous advancements<\/a> in technology including camera phones, CAT scans, LEDs, home insulation, scratch-resistant lenses, wireless headsets, and artificial limbs to name a few.<\/p>\n

Great accomplishments can be achieved by adopting a mindset of true perseverance.  Genuinely believing in yourself, focusing everything you have on your goals, and never allowing the negativity and rejection of others who don\u2019t share your vision to breakdown your resolve will clear the path to the attainment of your aspirations.  The journey may be long and turbulent, but remember the words of Josephus Daniels, \u201cdefeat never comes to any man until he admits it.\u201d<\/p>

Date Published:  9\/30\/2020<\/span>
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Perseverance: Vanquishing Skepticism, One Non-Believer at a Time While venturing down the corridor of achievement, there are a number of keys required to open all the locked doors leading to what you want most in life, and there\u2019s no debating that one of the most crucial keys to have in your possession is perseverance.\u00a0 How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":32,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-834","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/834\/revisions\/921"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/granttriffo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}