Perseverance: How many problems have you solved today...

"We can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  --Albert Einstein

Measuring success, is something that happens on a daily basis in life and in business.  The metrics however are different.  Or are they?

When Wall Street or the Board of Directors measures success, the quants are looking at mathematical equations to determine Earnings Per Share (EPS) or Return on Equity (ROE) of a business.  After all, how can an investor determine where they should invest their capital.  Operational Risk is always a factor.

When people measure success about their life, the measuring tools and methods are sometimes different.  For one person, it is whether they or their children have finished the day without that feeling in their gut of starvation.  For another person, it is whether they will live long enough to see their first grand child.  For others, just living a life full of faith, integrity, ethics, trust and resilience is enough.

Some people might measure success by the car they drive, the house or neighborhood they live in or the Country Club where they are a member.  In Silicon Valley, the metric may be how many rounds (A, B, C, D) of funding, your startup has achieved.  Around the beltway in Washington, DC the metric could be, whether your "Program" was funded in the last budget cycle.

The problem-sets that we engage with in business, organizations, government and in life, require the time and the effort to truly assess the catalyst and the environment that you are operating within.  But not too long.  Speed and time to a solution, can be your strategic ally or your lethal enemy.

To solve an identified problem requires an analysis of the root cause and the final solution may be achieved in small incremental steps.  The final answer may take minutes, hours or even years.  The one factor that will remain constant, is your ability to forge successful relationships with others to assist you.

The other factors of achieving success, once you truly understand the real problem, is the ability to adapt, pivot and perseverance.  The continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

How long have you been persevering?

1 day.  1 month. 1 year.  5 years. 20 years.  40 years.  60+ years.  You see, your success is based upon experience and wisdom, yet it has only one metric.  How many problems have you solved so far?

What you see and hear today, what you think about and how you do it, is all in your ability and capacity to solve the daily problems of life and business.

So what?  This is nothing new...

You have no doubt heard or read, a famous book about similar topics and subjects.  How to be successful?

What if perseverance was that one differentiator, that determines whether you are successful, or not?

Again, you have heard it all before.  Stop doing this, start doing that.  Keep doing it.  Did you hear that from your mother, father or your latest boss?  Really, is that all success is about?

Guess what?  Are you still alive?  Did you, or your children or parents go to bed hungry tonight?  If the answer is yes that you are reading this, and no one was hungry...you have been successful today.

Remember, tomorrow you will be solving more problems and persevering...to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement..

Godspeed!  Have a prosperous journey...