How Long Do You Persist?

How do you balance these two opposite challenges? Persist and face rejection and no's until the end of time. OR... Take a no as a sign it's not meant to be since it's true that "rejection is direction."

Before I answer this incredibly tough question, let me say this: many people won't start because they don't even want to get to this fork in the road. They don't want to face the no's and the rejection as part of the path so they avoid it altogether.

So if this is you and you are struggling to decide which way to go, congratulations! You did the hard part! You got started and now you are getting rejected. Welcome to a very elevated club of people.

As J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan said, “We are all failures — at least, all the best of us are.”

So, what to do? A lot of no's can be of great value because in the end it might be what sets you on a new course that changes your life and turns out better than you ever thought possible. And yet, what about persistence and not giving up? There are currently 4.8 million posts on Instagram that used the hashtag #dontgiveup - it must be important, right? Oops, 4.81 million. Anyway...

Here's my really annoying answer for you and that is... it's up to you. There is no easy answer otherwise you'd have already figured it out and you wouldn't have been attracted to reading my post. :)

But can I just say this? Most people give up way, way too soon.

So, listen, if your heart is not in it, if it's no longer fun, or if you can play the movie out til the end and it's no longer the ending you want then sure... take the no now and move on so that something else can enter your life. But if it's still your dream? I mean really your dream (not your Mom's dream) or what you think you're supposed to be doing then hang in there. Just a little longer.

What do you think? I'd love your comments. (Have you read "Go for No!"? If you want to develop your persistence through failure and rejection it will greatly help you.)