Perseverance, Determination, and Ambition
Two Stories exercise
Use the provided Two Stories PDF and write down one example each of failure and success. After that, reflect on how these influenced you in your further career or life. Did these experiences have a long-term effect? Even ‘failures’ might actually be a catalyzer for positive development!
Perseverance and Determination are dependent on your goals. Visualizing them helps you to keep focus and track your progress. Here are 3 ways of how you can do that:
1. Find a purpose, remember the why:
Take 10 minutes and describe how your work contributes to a greater cause. Remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing! This will help you in times of set-backs to re-focus on your goal.
2. Find role models or examples:
Talk to people that you admire for their perseverance, like a family member or a neighbor. Maybe you also admire a famous person for what they have achieved – watch a movie, or read a book or article about them and reflect on what you can use as an example for your own work. Maybe you can also find examples of perseverance in nature around you and can use that image as inspiration. Write down a quote or print out a picture that reminds you of your example and hang it in a prominent place in your work space to motivate yourself.
3. Visualize your progress and goals:
Write down your short and long term goals, then add achievable benchmarks that you can check off over time to track your progress. Maybe you can also establish a reward system for yourself so you can celebrate the milestones you achieve!
For a structured visualization, you can use the SMART goal or GROW model.