T is for Tenacity
One of those Leadership 360 things we took when I was assigned to the Leadership Department at Air Command and Staff College revealed at least one person valued my tenacity — that no matter what the negative obstacles I would never, ever give up. Reading that meant a lot to me at the time, and, frankly, it still means a lot to me.
There are a number of meaningful qualities humans need to possess. They do not need to possess them all, but a collection of them is helpful to have in a person’s toolbox for coping with life. Tenacity is one of those qualities. Sometimes just not giving up will net you a win. And that win will allow you to continue competing, and at some point, you may well succeed based upon other traits.
I credit a lot of my twenty-eight year military career to tenacity — never giving up. The military values that trait. They don’t necessarily reward it with promotions, but they do value it. Sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps you in a marriage during the challenging spots all marriages experience. Life, to a certain extent, depends upon tenacity.
Don’t get me wrong, knowing when to let go is every bit as important as hanging on. When your life it driving straight off a precipitous cliff, that is not the time to cling tenaciously. That is the time to look for alternative paths and apply your tenacity to taking one of those alternate, hopefully, more life-sustaining paths.
i am guilty of tenacity to a fault
i am not much of a psychologist and i don’t know that bill wilson was either, but bill wrote: “Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn’t be complete human beings. If men and women didn’t exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn’t reproduce, the earth wouldn’t be populated. If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society. So these desires–for the sex relation, for material and emotional security, and for companionship–are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given.
Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed their proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives. Our desires for sex, for material and emotional security, and for an important place in society often tyrannize us. When thus out of joint, man’s natural desires cause him great trouble, practically all the trouble there is. No human being, however good, is exempt from these troubles. Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. When that happens, our great natural assets, the instincts, have turned into physical and mental liabilities. ”
made a lot of sense to me
There’s a lot to be said for sticking to things. I see so many people who give up quickly.
I tend to use perseverance for this trait. 🙂