Tag: perseverance

Developing Grit

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Would you consider yourself mentally tough? In other words, are you able to push forward despite setbacks, disappointments and mistakes? I believe the potential is within us to strengthen our mental resolve and develop a mindset that allows us to take positive steps forward, especially when the going gets tough.

When the tragedy of 911 occurred in this nation, the US Military needed to train additional Navy SEALS, but they had one problem. Although many recruits began the grueling program, only a small percentage actually made it all the way through, as many quit before completion. Of course the Navy did not want to change the challenging standards to become a SEAL, so they explored what they needed to do to help more recruits complete the strenuous program.

They began to examine the common denominators of those who have grit – the quality to be able push through obstacles even when they felt like giving up. One of the basic factors they found was mental toughness and positive self-talk. Telling yourself, I can do this, rather than thinking, I’m not cut out for this, is one of the keys to getting through the most demanding circumstances. As the Navy began to apply this research, equipping their recruits with mental tools to help them rise up to their obstacles, their passing rates increased by ten percent.*

Negative and defeating thoughts can easily pop into our minds, especially when things don’t go as planned. One way we can turn our self-talk in a positive direction is to memorize certain phrases to repeat to ourselves, especially when we feel like throwing in the towel and quitting.

As a successful businessman, my dad kept a 3 by 5 card in his pocket to pull out at times when he needed an encouraging reminder. Here’s what was written on his card:

  • I can do this!
  • If it is to be, it is up to me.
  • Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.
  • God is the strength of my life.
  • The harder I work, the better I get.

Whether you choose a famous quote, a scripture or an encouraging phrase, fill your mind with what is true, noble and admirable. We can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can choose our focus. Know what is important to you and where you want to go in life. Remember you are not alone. Be willing to invest the time, strength and mental grit to overcome obstacles and reach toward your dreams.

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Check out Karol’s book, Positive Leadership Principles for Women for more inspiration and encouragement.

Photo by Alex Guillaume on Unsplash

*Eric Barker, Barking Up the Wrong Tree (New York, NY: Harper One, 2017) p. 63.

Step Up to the Challenge

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Our challenges often prepare us for leadership and develop in us a sense of courage, strength and perseverance. Take Mary Crowley, founder of Home Interiors & Gifts, for example. She is considered one of premiere business women in Dallas, Texas. Her life was not an easy journey, but she as a woman with a firm faith in God, she grew and learned through each struggle in her life.

Married in 1932 and with children coming soon after, she and her husband struggled to survive through the Depression. Mary realized that if she was going to be able to feed her family, she would need to find a job. Although jobs were scarce at the time, especially for women, Mary chose a store she wanted to work in, dressed up and armed herself with a confident smile, walked in the doors of the store and got the job!

Without realizing it at the time, this job enabled Mary to develop a shrewd business sense that later prepared her to become head of a multimillion dollar company. Sadly, her marriage crumbled in 1939. She began studying to be a CPA and worked full time at an insurance company. Additionally, Mary suffered from insomnia, yet she turned her problems over to God. She used to pray, “Lord, you know I’ve got to get my rest. You worry about these problems. You’re going to be up all night anyway.” She would then go to sleep, leaving her problems in God’s hands. Her faith in God never wavered, and she found her confidence and strength in Him during those lean years.

In 1948 she married David Crowley, Jr. whom she had met at the insurance company. As a newlywed, Mary wanted to make her home as attractive as she could, despite her limited funds. She took a job as an accountant in a furniture company, and soon she began to notice that as people came to buy furniture, they had no idea how to accessorize their new furniture. Ideas began to dance around in her mind as to how she could help these people, but she also longed to be home with her children. In God’s way and in His timing, He began to put it all together.  Several years later, a man who imported gifts and decorative accessories, asked Mary to become his sales manager in a new direct-sales company.

After working with this company for only three years, Mary’s staff had increased to five hundred women selling accessories through home parties. Sounds like a Joseph-type success, doesn’t it? The owner was pleased with the success, but he decided to add cocktail parties into the company functions, and he put limits on the commissions the sales women could make. Mary told him she didn’t agree with these conditions, so he sent her the office furniture that belonged to her and he was done with her position. Mary grieved the loss of being tossed off of that mountain, but she trusted God and knew He had a plan.

It was then that she birthed her own company, Home Interiors & Gifts. Mary followed God’s leading, and she gave Him credit for the success of her company. She knew that it was God who opened the doors, but it was her responsibility to walk through them. Mary’s desire was to help woman and minister to their needs. Many of the women who became a part of her team had never held jobs before and even needed help with their appearance.

Soon Mary’s company was helping women both personally and financially, paying dividends and bonuses. The business continued to grow and in 1962, the sales force recorded one million dollars in sales. Sadly, it was the same year she was diagnosed with cancer. She ended up fighting two bouts (mountains if you will) of cancer, but continued to fight on and bless many women in the process.

Mary was one of the first women to serve on the board of directors of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. She received two honorary doctorate degrees before her death in 1986.[i] Today, the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers in Dallas provide hope to cancer patients by expanding treatment options through investigational vaccine, gene and cellular therapies. Despite the setbacks Mary faced, God used her perseverance and creativity to inspire women and bring hope to generations of cancer patients as well.

What can we learn from her story?

 

  • Embrace the mountains in front of you and see them as opportunities for growth.
  • Don’t blame others or make excuses.
  • Do your work with excellence and integrity.
  • Be faithful in the small tasks.
  • Always ask, “Lord what do you want me to learn here?”
  • Keep your eyes on God’s plan for you.

 

Personalize It

  1. What mountain are you currently facing in your leadership role?
  2. What is God teaching you personally through this challenge?
  3. How can you thank God specifically for this mountain?

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This is an excerpt from Positive Leadership Principles for Women

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

[i] Mary Trotter Kion, http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/MaryCrowley.html

True Positive: Day 10 – Perseverance

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Perseverance means to continue doing something in spite of the difficulties or opposition. It means being steadfast in purpose and to persist. When we face challenges of any kind, let’s be honest, our tendency is to want to quit. Whether it is school or work or a relationship, it is natural for us to want to take the easy route or the less painful path. Possibly one of the most positive things we can do is to push through the uncomfortable circumstances and persevere.

It takes courage and strength, mixed with a glimmer of hope, to press forward in tough times. Granted, there are some circumstances in life when we ought to call it quits, but we must be wise, discerning and prayerful in those situations. We can learn from the apostle Paul’s example as he faced hardships, imprisonments and beatings. He wrote, “Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God is calling me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Press on my friend, with your eyes on the goal. Find your courage, strength and hope in Him.

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When we walk in a room and switch on a light, we can be thankful for an unlikely genius named Thomas Alva Edison. Moving pictures and audio recordings are also a result of this one man’s perseverance. With very little formal schooling, and numerous mishaps and failures, few people expected young Thomas to amount to anything at all. But…he had a mother who looked past his shortcomings and saw his potential. He spoke with affection about her, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

Thomas was a curious boy and his mother had every reason to be discouraged about his actions. He burned down the family stable and was kicked out of school, yet his mother Nancy, a devout Presbyterian with a formal education ,was able to put her education to good use by teaching “young Al.”  Thomas was an ambitious entrepreneur and started a small business selling newspapers on a local train, but he lost his job because he nearly blew up one of the train cars with his science experiments. His life was marked by many other failures and mishaps, but oddly that’s not what we remember about him. We remember him for his successes. Aren’t you thankful for the influence and leadership of his mother who taught him to look at each failure as an opportunity to learn and grow and discover new things.

Edison had a unique drive and perseverance that kept him learning and growing despite his mistakes. He didn’t allow discouragements to linger, rather he pushed forward with curiosity and commitment. On the 50th anniversary of the electric light bulb, Henry Ford organized a celebration of his dear friend Edison. President Herbert Hoover spoke about the variety of ways that the electric light had made life better, “It enables our towns and cities to clothe themselves in gaiety by night, no matter how sad their appearance may be by day. And by all its multiple uses it has lengthened the hours of our active lives, decreased our fears, replaced the dark with good cheer, increased our safety, decreased our toil, and enabled us to read the type in the telephone book.”*

The light bulb represent countless hours in the laboratory filled with failed experiments and frustrations. When asked by a reporter with the New York Times about the seemingly incredible difficulties associated with developing the light bulb, Edison responded, “I have not failed 700 times. I’ve succeeded in proving 700 ways how not to build a light bulb.” What an extraordinary perspective! Can we look at our mistakes as successes, or are we so caught up in the disappointments and frustrations that we can’t see the positive aspects of our failures? As leaders, let’s determine to look at life with and attitude that includes the joy of learning and the opportunity to discover the lesson behind each challenge and mistake.

*Herbert Hoover: “Address on the 50th Anniversary of Thomas Edison’s Invention of the Incandescent Electric Lamp.,” October 21, 1929.

This is an excerpt from Positive Leadership Principles for Women.

 

Strengthening the Family

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 We had a wonderful time at PWC last week with our guest Janee Harrell teaching about finding our identity in Christ.  It was a great lesson teaching us to be open, honest and real.  Also, this week Curt and I celebrated our anniversary.  Here’s a few thoughts about marriage that I want to share with you.

Our Anniversary Trip, climbed a mountain!

‎“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times – always with the same person.” M. McLaughlin

This week Curt and I celebrated 28 years of marriage!  Can you believe it?  I know you must be thinking that we got married when we were 12 years old by looking at our pictures, right?  Okay, at least I was hoping you were thinking that.  As far as marriage is concerned, the reality is every marriage has its unique set of challenges, because we are two unique people, with two unique sin patterns joining together to try to live life as one.  

It’s not always easy, but marriage can certainly be a joy and a blessing not only to you as a couple, but to your kids and your community.  It’s worth working on and fighting for, because God uses marriage as a foundational structure of society.  And who can deny that our society desperately needs good strong marriages today to help our next generation on their way?  Here’s a few important thoughts in strengthening your marriage that we’ve tried to implement in our home.

Forgive and ask forgiveness often.

Pray together every night before going to sleep.

Build each other up with words and kind actions.

Do not put down your spouse with your words.

Encourage each other’s gifts, talents and interests.

Go on dates together as often as possible.

Laugh together.

Look to the Lord (not your spouse) to meet your emotional needs.

Examine your own heart instead of always blaming your spouse.

One last thought, this week on Family Life Today radio I heard a couple share their story of how God resurrected their dead marriage to become a loving and vibrant relationship in Christ. They reminded the listeners that if we really believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, then why can’t we believe that this same God can resurrect dead marriages.  If you are currently struggling to hold your marriage together I want to first encourage you to seek God’s help and visit a Biblically-based counselor.  I also want to encourage you to go to the Family Life website ( www.familylife.com )  as a great resource.