How perseverance can lead you to success? – Episode #007 Claim Your Freedom Podcast

Welcome to episode 7 of Claim Your Freedom.

I am your host, Aziza Alaoui.

John Rockefeller said once, I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.

I want to share with you a story, something that happened to me when I was 18.

At that time. I came to Canada to study.

And I wanted to do so many things.

I was so happy.

And I was driven by this feeling that I could do anything I want.

I had dreams.

So I loved Montreal because I came to Quebec, to Montreal.

And I was learning so many things and meeting people, different things, things that I really didn’t even know that exist.

But one thing was more important was crucial for me is to learn how to ski.

So one day, my friend Dennis said to me, let’s go skiing.

Aziza, I’m going to teach you how.

I was a little bit scared.

Okay, let’s go.

So we chose this place that wasn’t really

crowded and was a bit easier than others.

And when we arrived there, I put on the skis, ready to go.

But then when we got to the lift, first time, bunk, I miss it.

The second time the lift missed me.

But the third time we got in it, all the three of us, the lift, me, Dennis, and we went up.

So once there I was standing on the top of the mountain and I was looking down, oh my God, it looked scary.

I couldn’t move. I just felt I can’t do this.

And I was shouting, Dennis, I can’t do it.

Let me go. Let me go.

And then he comes.

And he says, Give me your hand.

I’m going to show you how to do the Slough.

We’re going to go slowly. But surely.

So we started going. And then he let my hand go.

And you know what? Suddenly everything stopped.

I saw my skis going in the air.

I was really, I mean, like, shocked. I was in shock.

I didn’t know what was happening to me.

My face was really into the snow.

I was cold.

At a moment. I thought, oh, my God, am I dead?

Then I heard my friend talking, oh Aziza I’m coming. I’m coming. Don’t worry. I’m going to help you.

And he did come.

And then I stood there put on the skis again.

And he said to me, you know what we say that in French, you are going to do the pizza, not the French fries.

I was like, what is he talking about? Pizza not the French fries.

And then he says to me, oh my God, look at me.

The pizza means a slice of a pizza.

You point your skis to the front so you don’t fall.

Don’t do the French fries. I mean, don’t go straight.

I laughed at him.

I said, oh, my God.

I thought at a moment I was cooking in the kitchen.

So I went and I did the pizza as he said.

And I got down there.

Half hour later, I was tired.

I was overwhelmed.

And I said to him, this is too hard for me.

He goes, okay, because you were courageous and you made it down here.

I’m gonna buy you a hot chocolate.

Oh, I love hot chocolate.

Let’s go and have one.

So I finished my hot chocolate.

And then what happened?

What happened is Dennis stood up and he said, Aziza, let’s go back.

Oh, I said, no, no, no way. I’m going to stay here. I feel warm here. I’m happy. I’m rested.

Why am I going to go out there? Horrible. I didn’t really liked the experience.

So he looked at me in the eye and he looked at me, seriously.

And he said, Aziza, if you don’t do it now, if you don’t go back now, you will never do it again.

You won’t learn how to ski.

You won’t be skiing at all.

So I looked at him and I said, okay, let’s go.

So I went back.

And that was the best decision I ever made.

Because second time, I went down the slope in ten minutes, and I went back again.

And that’s what I want to talk about today, how one decision can either make you learn a great skill and be happy and really enjoy something.

And it takes a little moment of your attention and focus on what matters.

So what mattered at that moment, it’s my dream.

I wanted to learn skiing.

I am in Canada and there is snow and everybody skis almost.

It’s a beautiful beautiful activity where you meet people, you’re outside.

So why not?

That is perseverance.

That is what we call persisting.

So what does perseverance mean?

And what does it do to you and to your success in life?

Perseverance helps you discover yourself, have knowledge about who you are and really shows you the level of your goals and how important they are to you.

Perseverance is that thing you do when you feel like quitting, like, you know, in leadership, all leaders have to remember that they can’t give up.

You can’t give up as a leader.

You can’t give up because it’s the moment you feel that’s it I can’t anymore.

I am going to give up that you have to persevere.

You have to have that persistence in doing the same thing continuously, consistently until you achieve your goal.

Perseverance enhances your motivation. The level of your motivation is so high that you don’t even question yourself.

You just go for it.

You feel. Oh, my God. This is my dream. I can’t stop now. I have to go on with it.

And I’ve been there. I can tell you about it. I can tell you a lot of stories about it, how I had to persevere when I felt tired, fatigue, killing me, overwhelmed when I felt that’s it.

I have to let go.

It’s too much for me.

Then I just went one step further, another step further.

And I achieved what I wanted.

And this is crucial in our lives because perseverance is what brings you success, because you know we can’t succeed and we don’t succeed the first time we try something or we do something.

There are failures. There are setbacks. There are obstacles around and on your road and those obstacles.

They can even give you the courage.

The wisdom because you learn from them to keep going or they can stop you and hold you back and all happens in the mind.

It’s all in your mind because if your thoughts are negative are around.

I am tired.

I am anxious.

I am overwhelmed.

It’s too much for me.

I rather stop and go home and sit and watch Netflix binge on this TV show and be happy because my mind, my conscious is blocked.

I am living patterns.

I am on my subconscious.

I am completely the slave of my brain.

My mind is running the show.

Well, no.

When you persevere, when you decide because you have to make that decision to get into action, you have to make it.

And it doesn’t take long to make it.

You have to pause and say to yourself, what does matter to me?

What is my purpose in life?

What is it that I love to do the most?

Yes, of course, watching Netflix or going on social media or going out with friends, have a drink, do something else, helps you in the moment.

But then you go back to your life.

You go back to your dreams and you feel unhappy and fulfilled because you are not in the path to achieve it.

You went like this like the slalom while at the beginning, you need to focus and point all your attention to what matters.

Perseverance is the only way you can learn from your failures and let go of any blocks in your mind and obstacles that you find in your way on your way.

So what is it that holds you back from persevering?

As I said, it’s your thoughts, emotions, experiences that happened a long time ago that you live again and again.

Okay, I think about that experience.

I feel the emotion coming back in my body.

It triggers the thought, the negative thought about it.

And then it goes from thought to emotion to thought to emotion.

And one negative thought.

One negative thought can bring you to many other ones, one after the other.

So as I said before, sometimes it takes 1 minute, 30 seconds, 5 seconds.

As Mel Robbins says to stop, pause.

Okay, so you shift your attention from that thought that is blocking you.

You take control and you forget about the idea that you had 5 seconds earlier and you go back to what matters.

But what I suggest is don’t kill yourself.

If at a certain time you say to yourself, I’m tired.

I can’t. I’m anxious.

I want to do something else.

Stop, but set a time.

Say I’ll stop for ten minutes, 15 minutes, maybe 30 minutes.

I’ll do something else, something that will bring me joy in the moment that will uplift my feelings.

Do it.

Knowing that after that time you decided and you said you will go back to your task, you will go back to whatever is helping you achieve your dreams.

Do that doesn’t matter but be aware of it.

Be aware that you have triggers, internal triggers that hold you back from achieving what you want.

And it’s all in your subconscious.

You have to bring it back to the conscious.

You have to know exactly what is happening in the back of your brain.

What are all those beliefs that you stored there and that are coming back every day to haunt you, to decide, for you to make your life the way it is so you can take control.

And as John Assaraf says, all the time, this is his question.

Every time he talks to his audience, are you committed or interested?

Because, you know, commitment is crucial.

When you commit to do something, you do it no matter how long it takes.

But you do it because you’re honest with yourself.

As you’re honest with others, and most of the time we tend, we have tendency to be honest with others, but not with ourselves.

Say to yourself, I’m going to do this. I’m going to read that book.

I’m going to go to the gym three times a week.

I am going to write that book. I will write 1000 words every day for a certain time.

But you don’t.

So you lie to yourself.

You lie to yourself constantly.

So what are you gonna do now?

Keep going lying to yourself and keep yourself stuck or take control.

And you take control when you make that little effort.

But it doesn’t look that like an effort.

Absolutely not.

And you know why?

Because you love what you’re doing.

You love what you want to do.

It’s just that sometimes it’s painful.

You have to let go of things that are so funny and some pleasures because you need to

focus and keep your attention on doing what you need to do to achieve your goals.

But if you keep all this in a calendar, if you keep all your tasks, you know that you need time for yourself.

You need time for your family.

You need time for your friends.

You need time to read.

You need time to go to the gym, you need time and you put it in your calendar.

You know, it is essential for you to do it.

You know there is no way you’re going to let go of that.

So you put it in your calendar and then you put all what concerns your work.

I have to write this content.

I have to finish this project.

I need to work on it this many hours a day.

I have to read this about it.

I have to come up with a plan and you go on.
But you have to put this in your calendar.

You have to know what you have to do.

You have to schedule all those actions and activities this way you are in control.

When you wake up in the morning, you are not distracted.

Nothing can distract you because, you know, during your day I’ll be doing this for myself, for my self care.

I’ll be doing this with my family.

So I’m giving time to my kids, to my wife or my husband.

I’ll be meeting my friends, chat with them, call them whatever.

But it is part of your schedule. Don’t wake up in the morning with no schedule, nothing to do.

You are just making yourself available.

Because if you don’t schedule your day,

somebody else will schedule your day for you and do not let that happen.

Because if you do that, you’re not in the path to achieving your dreams.

So this is what it takes and persisting in doing the same thing.

Yes.

May seem painful.

Sometimes it becomes boring even.

But I can tell you, many businesses, successful businesses are boring.

Boring? Why boring?

Because you have to do the same things you have a system.

And that’s what makes you successful.

Because you have a system and you’re doing the same thing all the time.

But it is wonderful because you are doing what you love.

A system only helps you do what you love, accomplish your mission, be on your purpose.

Help others be of service.

A system gives you clarity on what you are doing.

And clarity is essential.

Really essential.

I can’t repeat that enough.

Clarity is what you need to be able to focus on what matters to you the most, on what you have to do in this life.

To feel successful.

Happy fulfilled.

To have the freedom to be who you are, to do what you want and to have what you desire.

Because freedom means a lot of things, different things.

So what kind of freedom are you looking for?

The freedom of a moment, watching Netflix or going on social media and reading or the freedom to do what you love.

Get paid for it.

Become wealthy, become healthy.

The freedom to go to the gym to eat the right things.

The freedom to be with your family and your friends, the connections that is the freedom.

And that is the freedom that brings you success.

The soul aligned success.

I talk about the soul aligned success.

The one that is aligned to your soul, to your inner self, to your deepest purpose.

And it’s all around love.

Do what you love.

Be with the people you love.

Connect with people.

You go into love because you have a lot in common.

Love yourself by exercising, taking time for you, enhancing your health.

Love yourself.

Love others by being spiritual forgiving be compassionate.

This is what love means and all the rest comes with it.

So perseverance helps you gain and regain the freedom, the happiness in all the seven areas of your life.

So if you like this episode, tell us in the comments what you think about it and I’ll see you next week.