Yesterday, our Content Writer, Mary, delivered a personal message to you… an engaging story about how she accidentally set fire to her oven and the very important lesson she learned from that experience. She also promised I would be diving deeper into that topic today. So, if you missed the first part of this message, you can read it here. Now, let’s get down to business!

Every single person was born with many different gifts and we’re talking about two of those gifts today. Not only are these two things extremely important, it’s virtually impossible to succeed without them.

You were born with an unbelievable amount of persistence, along with the natural ability to “get over it”… whatever “it” might be!

Come on, you know what I’m talking about. It’s dinner time, and there you were, asking for some chocolate ice cream. When told no, you didn’t stop asking, did you? No way! You persisted. You kept asking. “Please can I have some ice cream?! Pleeeeease???” You asked and asked and asked, until threatened to within an inch of your life. And yet, in the face of multiple consequences, you persisted!

You didn’t have to be taught to persist. You naturally persisted. You were born with that gift!

When my oldest son, Cabe, was little, he ran everywhere he went. The kid never walked; he always ran. One day, I did something very unusual… I cleaned the sliding glass door. Honestly, with a puppy and a bunch of little kids, there was no point in cleaning the glass door. It would just be smudged and dirty within minutes! (If you have small children or animals, you understand!) I stood back and admired the perfectly clean glass, enjoying it… as long as it lasted.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, 4-year-old Cabe came running around the corner, heading outside. THUMP! He ran straight into the glass. He was so ticked off! His face turned red and he screamed up a storm. He wasn’t hurt, but he was angry – at the door!

But, you’ll never guess what happened next! He stopped screaming, got up, opened the door and ran outside. He kept running everywhere he went. Cabe did not let that glass door “run-in” keep him from running.

When you were a kid, you fell down and skinned your knee. And it didn’t just happen once! You fell countless times. But every time, you got back up and kept going. That’s the gift of “getting over it.”

Sadly, most adults stop running, at some point in our lives. We get hurt and then jump to sue someone for a “trip, slip and fall” hazard or because they didn’t warn you the coffee was hot or even for not telling you the glass door was closed!

You run into an obstacle in your business, get mad, then say, “This is stupid! I can’t do this! I don’t know WHY I ever thought this would work out!” Or, you don’t reach a goal, so you think, “See, I knew I couldn’t do it. I shouldn’t have even attempted it!” When you don’t get that big promotion at work, you vent those hurt feelings by saying “My boss hates just hates me. I’ll never get promoted.”

Can’t you see what’s happening?! You quit running! You quit trying! When you make a mistake or get hurt or fail at something, instead of getting up and giving it another shot, you say, “Better not try that again!”

You would never tell a toddler, just learning how to walk, “You idiot! Can’t you figure this out?! You might as well just sit down and forget about ever walking! You’re obviously never going to get it!” So why do you say it to yourself?! Why do you beat yourself up and talk down to yourself, when you make a mistake? Why do you convince yourself to give up, just because you haven’t yet mastered a new skill?

What have you given up on? What have you quit? What have you convinced yourself you just can’t do, simply because you failed once or twice?

You have been given the gifts of persistence and the ability to get over it. And the truth is, you cannot succeed without using those two gifts! You cannot succeed in business, your career, your family, your relationships, your finances without persisting in the face of fear, adversity and failure. You will not succeed if you cannot keep getting back up after you fall down. But if you learn to persist and to get over the failures, you WILL make it! You WILL succeed!

You have a homework assignment today. I want you to examine yourself, your life, your business/career, your relationships, your goals. Make a list of the things you have given up on. Write down as many as you can think of, but I want you to have at least 5.

Look at what you wrote down. You now have a ready-made list of opportunities! You see, you were born with those two gifts because you were meant to succeed! You were not meant to turn around and go home when you hit a roadblock! You weren’t meant to quit when things get hard. You were born to succeed!

So, this is your second chance! Pick one thing on your list right now – perhaps one you know you can do – and give it another shot today. Today, choose not to give up! Choose to follow through until you get it!

Let me know in the comments below what one thing you are tackling today. What is the one thing from your list you have decided to give another chance… and tell me your plan for accomplishing it. I’ll be reading the comments and want to encourage you along the way!

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about God’s words on persisting through the hard times. There will always be times when we want to quit and feel like that’s the only option. So, how do you deal with those situations? Be sure to check back tomorrow morning for the answers!

And don’t forget to join me for The Dani Johnson Show today, where we share even more of my personally-selected tips and strategies to put you on the fast-track to success! You can find the show on your TV and radio and please remember you can always stream today’s show right here on our website.

In great faith,

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