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    The Art of Persistence: Stop Quitting, Ignore Shiny Objects and Climb Your Way to Success
    The Art of Persistence: Stop Quitting, Ignore Shiny Objects and Climb Your Way to Success
    The Art of Persistence: Stop Quitting, Ignore Shiny Objects and Climb Your Way to Success
    Ebook145 pages2 hours

    The Art of Persistence: Stop Quitting, Ignore Shiny Objects and Climb Your Way to Success

    By Michal Stawicki

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Overweight? Alone? Out of money?

    Do you begin every year with a New Year’s resolution only to give up after a few weeks or months? Do you constantly begin a new exercise regime, new diet, or new financial plan only to decide you’re too weak-willed to keep it up? If this is you, you’re not alone. Up to 96% of people fail to achieve their goals. But it’s so hard to form those new habits. You know you should eat better, save some money, and make time to date, but isn’t it easier to just sit on the couch?
     

    The Secret to Becoming a Millionaire

    If 96% of people fail to achieve their goals, that still leaves 4% who are in top shape, earning a great income, and finding the love they’ve dreamed of. What are the secrets of these top performers? What do Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, and Steven Covey know that you don’t? What if there was a way to copy their secrets for success so you too could achieve your dreams? What if you could make healthy habits automatic so you never have to make another New Year’s resolution ever again?
     

    The Simple Solution that’s Right Under Your Nose

    Though the words consistency and habits may evoke eye rolls and a feeling of, “That’s too simple!” dive a little deeper and you’ll find the secret formula for success you’ve been waiting for. Michal Stawicki, ex-video game addict turned “Mr. Consistency,” has laid out a veritable formula for getting what you want in life. Whether it’s money, love, fame, a better body, or a better relationship with your kids, The Art of Persistence takes readers step by step from where they’re standing—in chaos, dysfunction, and dissatisfaction—to more happiness and fulfillment. No more broken promises to yourself—this time it’s really different.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichal Stawicki
    Release dateApr 3, 2015
    ISBN9781516323920
    Author

    Michal Stawicki

    Proven techniques from a practitioner. True stories.Does the concept of 'visualization' sound ridiculous to you?Do you consider mental exercises, the "law of attraction", "manifesting" and self development to be a waste of time or hokey-pokey?Has it been years since you thought seriously about your life?Welcome to the club! That describes me just a year ago. I was overweight, stressed, constantly worried about my finances and quietly desperate about my relationship with God. I was aimless. I had no plans for where my life would be in 2, 5 or 10 years.I'm a reader. I've read several thousands books in my life; there wasn't much else to do in Poland before the fall of communism. We had a black and white TV with only 2 channels; I didn't see my first computer until age 11. So, reading became my biggest habit.In August 2012 I read a book called "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson. It took me a whole month to start implementing ideas from this book. That led to me reading numerous other personal development books, some effective, some less so. I looked at myself and decided this was one person who could surely use some development. In November of 2012, I created my personal mission statement; I consider it the real starting point of my progress. Over several months I applied several self-help concepts and started building inspiring results: I some weight, greatly increased my savings, built new skills, got rid of bad habits and developed better ones.I'm very pragmatic, a "down to earth" person. I favor utilitarian, bottom-line results over pure artistry.Despite the ridiculous language, I found there is value in the "hokey-pokey visualization" stuff. I now see it as my mission to share what I have learned.My books are not abstract. I avoid going mystical as much as possible. I don't believe that pure theory is what we need in order to change our lives; the Internet age has proven this quite clearly. What you will find in my books are:- detailed techniques and methods describing how you can improve your skills and drive results in specific areas of your life- real life examples- personal storiesSo, whether you are completely new to personal development or have been crazy about the Law of Attraction for years, if you are looking for concrete strategies, you will find them in my books. My writing shows that I am a relatable, ordinary guy, not some ivory tower guru.I've been married over 12 years. I'm a father of two boys and one girl. I work full time in the IT industry, and recently, I've become an author. My passions are transparency, integrity and progress.

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    • 5/5
      I love this book thanks to michal it helped me a lot
    • 3/5
      TL;DR Start small, stay consistent

    Book preview

    The Art of Persistence - Michal Stawicki

    Chapter 1: The Instant Gratification Curse

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    For kings reign well when they reign over themselves and do not become the servants of their own vices, but master the impetuosity of these by courageous constancy.

    —Saint Anselm

    We live in a society that worships instant gratification. That is so wrong on so many levels! Intellectually, we know that instant gratification is not correct. It should be a bad phrase we forbid our kids to use.

    Instead, we treat this kind of attitude like a bratty kid: Well, he is who he is. Let him play. He’s just a kid; he will grow up. We are lenient. My parenting experience has taught me that leniency is not the right approach for raising children into responsible adults.

    The instant gratification approach is a curse.

    We love convenience. I still remember the times when there was no instant chocolate drink. If I wanted it, I needed to boil the water and perk it. The last time I did this was when instant chocolate ran out in my home. It is so much easier to pour a few spoons of water-soluble substance into milk or water, so much faster. And the taste is better (read: sweeter). At a first look, there are only advantages. But on a second look? (See the instant mix label.) The price is revealed: sugar and other chemical additives that make the mixture easily water-soluble and yummy.

    Convenience is easy, but may not give the results that are desired. The instant gratification approach has no merit or substance. The world doesn’t function this way. You can’t instantly have a cute three-year-old girl. First you need to go through nine months of pregnancy. Then you need to sacrifice a lot of time and work to raise her. Dirty diapers, colic, teething, crawling, and a lot of other stages must be worked through and checked off. Finally, the girl is three years old and you can have basic conversations with her.

    Think of it. Look around you. Look inside you. Whatever you possess took you time to get. No one instantly gets a job, a spouse, a house, a skill, or knowledge.

    But our thoughts mislead us. Our mind can imagine things happening instantly, so it wants those instant results in life. It’s the way we all are. And that is why we have an instant gratification–oriented society.

    No one is interested in extensive hard work. We love overnight success stories.

    Overnight Success

    I started my writing career in May 2013. I’ve documented every single day of my struggle in my online Progress Journal. It’s freely available for the whole world, but I didn’t advertise it, and only a small number of my friends saw it.

    The sales of my first title were at least encouraging. People were willing to spend money on my work and didn’t crush me with negative reviews. I published a second book at the beginning of July 2013. It sold exactly seventeen copies between then and the middle of November. That was more than just discouraging. It was a sales disaster and a blow to my self-confidence.

    Before September 2013, I wrote two more books and spent time polishing them. I also published a public domain work with a personal twist. However, up until the beginning of November, I had sold just 144 copies of my books. And I’d earned about $35.

    Despite these meager results, I persisted.

    I was working practically six days a week on my publishing business. (Revenue: $35!) I published my speed-reading book in November 2013, and for the first time I broke 100 sales in one month. But the price was only a dollar. Still chicken feed. A few hours of overtime at my day job would give me more than that.

    But I was consistent. I published a fourth book in December 2013, and it wasn’t a bestseller either. Sales were worse than the other three!

    But I tell you, I had decided not to give up. I kept up my consistent writing habit even though I had no significant results. I was not there yet.

    I had written my fifth book back in October. During this period, I’d have been happy to get at least one sale a day. No one was very interested in my process of book writing, and I didn’t have crowds flocking to my Journal.

    In December and January, I worked hard on the post-production stages of this fifth book—editing it, polishing it, and preparing the launch. I published it at the end of January 2014, and it became a bestseller. When I revealed on my author’s blog the details of the book launch, I abruptly got a few hundred visitors. I was invited as a guest on a podcast. I also gave a video interview.

    Everybody was suddenly interested in how the heck I got my results. Here is the secret: I got them in the months from May to January, when no one was watching. It was my consistent effort that brought me a harvest when I launched that fifth book.

    Yes, along the way it was boring. It was frustrating at times. But it was fruitful in the end.

    Consistency for My Friends

    A couple of my best friends have had, in many ways, similar journeys.

    One, an IT specialist, works for IBM. I’ve known him since high school. He is the eldest of three siblings. His father died in a car accident when he was fourteen. This hurt his family not only on an emotional level, but financially too. He matured very quickly and was able to be strong and supportive for his mother, brother, and sister. He graduated from technical university, immigrated to Ireland, and took a job with HP. He started his own family, returned to Poland, bought an apartment, and started a new IT career practically from scratch. He has achieved a lot, largely on his own!

    Another friend, whom I have known since primary school, was with me in Boy Scouts. He is very intelligent. After technical university, he stayed on as an administrative worker and computer network specialist. After several years in the university, he started a corporate career at  Alcatel. Did I mention he is intelligent? He has collected so many professional certificates that he is the best-qualified engineer in Alcatel, Poland. Soon he will be among the top 250 network specialists in the world. He is also a husband and a father and got to his status without much help from his parents. It’s a common story in Poland. Most of my generation’s parents struggled through our country’s painful and difficult transformation—from a communist to a capitalist economy—and were unable to significantly support their kids.

    As for me, after technical high school, I decided I’d had enough of technology. I chose an easier route at university through the economic faculty. My parents also couldn’t give me a lot of support. I started my family after the first year at university. We quickly had two boys. Earning a living while studying was a nightmare in a climate of 20% unemployment. I was hired in the IT industry fresh out of the university. Within six years, I had changed jobs three times. The last time I hadn’t chosen to change but was laid off due to the economic crisis. A workmate from a previous job helped me to get work in the biggest Polish media company. Gradually my new salary increased beyond the level I’d earned pre-crisis. While working in my second full-time job, my wife and I bought an apartment in a town 30 miles from the capitol. During my professional IT career up to 2012, I attended a few courses but passed zero exams (I didn’t even try to take them). In my spare time, I loved to read fiction and play computer games. You can see I wasn’t trying very hard!

    Then I read The Slight Edge in August 2012 and changed my life’s direction. In 2013, I started a writing career. After my success with Master Your Time in 10 Minutes a Day, I confessed to those two friends that I was a published author. They, of course, were curious. They don’t know each other, so the two conversations were a few months and hundreds of miles apart, but they both had the same question.

    First, my one friend asked me what had happened to cause the change in me. I summarized my story and emphasized what I had realized: the importance of consistency in achieving one’s goals.

    My friend was affirmative: Yeah, I know the importance of consistency. His next question really blew my mind: How will you stay consistent, Michal? How will you keep going on days when you don’t feel like it?

    I was a bit surprised. At one point, I hadn’t known that the basic requirement for success was consistency. I had considered luck or talent the leading factors. But as soon as I was introduced to The Slight Edge philosophy and understood it, I set my mind to focus on consistency and had never stopped. All I’d needed was an understanding that persistence would enable me to reach my goals. Since then, I’d known that every little step I took brought me a bit closer to what I wanted. But my friend didn’t seem to grasp this idea.

    I had almost forgotten that conversation until I talked with my other friend and the same questions were asked.

    Then I was enlightened. Theoretical knowledge is not enough. Applied knowledge is what counts. My two clever friends knew what to do. They just couldn’t make themselves actually do this consistently. Knowledge itself was not the solution.

    And the second piece of realization struck me: I’m doing something better than those amazing guys! They were ahead of me in terms of financial status and professional careers. They were brighter than me.

    However, my transformation has allowed me to move forward faster than they have and make up for the lost time. I was amazed to realize that I’m closing the gap between us.

    My friends weren’t amazed at all. It’s what they expected of me. They said, Man, you took your sweet time, but it’s nice to see you are doing well, at last.

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