What is sticktoittiveness and how does it springboard you to success?
To achieve anything, we need to persevere, to stick with it continually trialing and evaluating until we get the outcome we are seeking. Thomas Edison is an awesome example of ongoing trial and evaluation and is often quoted “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”, in relation to his idea and his desire to develop a long lasting incandescent light bulb.
There is a lot that we can learn from people like Edison who trialed his idea, got it wrong, evaluated to learn the lessons, re-framed his thinking and gave it another go. He was sure that the answer was just there, wrapped up in the next experiment, and he had the character, the resilience required to meet the size of the challenge. I am sure that there were many times when he could have easily given up his idea, let it go and focused his brilliant mind on any number of other ideas. Edison did not give up. He stuck to the task. It could be said that Edison demonstrated a very high level of stick-to-it-tiveness.
What is this sticktoittiveness stuff? Where do you get it from?
The Urban Dictionary defines sticktoittiveness as “the ability to persevere and endure to the point of overcoming a particularly difficult obstacle. Also see stickability, perseverance.”
We all know that difficulty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people see difficulty at every turn, problems instead of challenges, finding it easier to give up than to do the extra needed to complete the task. Their level of sticktoittiveness is probably low. Others see difficulty as a challenge, look for the gift in the situation and almost immediately begin seeking a way around, under, over or through the obstacle – such is their motivation to achieve their goal. These people have a high level of sticktoittiveness.
What is it that keeps some people striving when things get challenging?
Breaking sticktoittiveness down into a number of behaviours will assist you with your understanding, allowing you to examine each of these traits to see which ones you need to develop to build your stickability with the flow on effect of building your success.
Ten traits that contribute to your level of Sticktoittiveness are:
- Ability to see the lesson, the gift in every situation – no matter how hard you have to look for it, and boy! sometimes it will be really hard to find
- Acknowledgement that you are human and that you make mistakes which you will recover from
- Not too arrogant to ask for assistance or for a different perspective
- Enjoy laughing and have the ability to laugh at yourself
- Always acknowledge and celebrates what went well, what was achieved paying particular attention to the small things
- Break the challenge into smaller pieces [chunk it down] doing what you can, when you can and always to the best of your ability
- Starts with what makes sense and is also prepared to give what doesn’t make sense a go where necessary
- Realise that done is 100% better than perfect as continuous improvement goes without saying
- Managing yourself so that you are able to maximise your use of the time you have available to you
- High level of resilience, the ability to adapt to the ups and downs of life quickly and remain motivated
These are the same traits that Edison and many other successful men and women since him draw on every single day. Success is a direct result of your ability to persevere, your sticktoittiveness.
Review these ten traits, honestly identifying those you a currently strong in, those that you could strengthen and those that may currently be holding your success back. Set yourself some goals around improving and strengthening those traits that will improve your sticktoittiveness adding these traits into your daily behaviours.
While I have no doubt that you can get this process of building your sticktoittiveness started yourself, as your coach, I will assist you to set 12 month goals, chunking them down to 3 month targets and developing daily, weekly and monthly measurable actions. I will also keep you accountable on your journey to building your sticktoittiveness, celebrating your successes with you every step of the way.
Contact me now for a complimentary 30-minute coaching session to see if we fit.
Beth Berghan is an international coach who works with entrepreneurs, business owners, executives and anyone in transition to develop and implement communication and time management strategies designed to maintain work/life harmony. She practices her sticktoittiveness by fine-tuning her plan to take over the world one country at a time and wondering whether she needs a bike licence to do this.