Are You Where You Want to Be?

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." Tobias Wolff

If you're not where you want to be, it is because you gave up too soon. It's that simple. Persistence wins out over talent every time. Do you ever look at someone else's art and say, "I could do that." I bet you've also had an idea for something and then seen it in print or online.....created by someone else. It happens to us all at one time or another.

I know that you are capable of whatever you set your mind to. You were born with an innate talent. Some artists appear to have been born with a silver pen, pencil, needle or paintbrush in their hand. Others, like you and me, need to work at it, to persist in finding and developing their innate talent.

At an early age so many people assume that if something doesn’t come easily for them, that they are just not cut out for it. 95% of them will give up on a dream way too soon after a few unsuccessful attempts. The other 5% will persist and go on to fulfill their dreams and ambitions.

Persistence means no excuses. You know the saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” You need to be tough to get going on your dreams, tough enough to take a no excuses approach. That means calling yourself out on all those reasons you have for not taking action on your dreams. 99% of the time your reasons are excuses. Do you know where excuses come from? Excuses arise from fear.

Persistence requires a thick skin. Rejection, set-backs and disappointment are all a part of any success story because success requires risk. Risk means going out on a limb and limbs can break. Success requires being uncomfortable. It requires stretching outside of your comfort zone, time and time again, in order to achieve the kind of artist success you desire. It means feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

Persistence requires never taking NO for an answer. The success of my TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) and its award as the Most Innovative Product at the Winter 2011 CHA show would not have happened without persistence. And I’ll let you in on a secret – it wasn’t my persistence that brought it about.

It took a year of persistent phone calls from the paper company’s representative before I agreed to put my name on the product. It was a big step for me and I had a lot to loose – not just money, but my reputation as an artist. It finally dawned on me, after a year of calls, that the Universe was repeatedly offering me an opportunity. Opportunity knocked and I finally answered the door. His persistence paid off. For him, for me, for C&T, and actually most of all, for you if you are looking for the best and easiest transfer method around.

Persistence is what makes things happen. History is full of examples of men and women who persisted through and against incredible odds and circumstances to change how we live, think and act – Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther King, Thomas Edison, Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey to name a few.

Surely you can muster up the persistence required to make your art dreams come true. It can be as simple as getting up each morning and saying, “Today I am going to_______,” and then doing it. That’s all it really takes. Here’s what another wise Riley had to say, James Whitcomb Riley - "The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come." I must say I agree. How about you?