Persistence is staying focused on something – often a task or goal – to its completion despite barriers and setbacks. It is the ability to endure hardship for a purpose. It is recognized in many philosophical traditions as necessary for happiness and thriving.

Persistence is a practical ability necessary for achieving other virtues. Many virtues require a long-term commitment and much practice to develop. Persistence requires several other personal skills, such as self-discipline, priority setting, and organization.

I found persistence a necessary foundation for pursuing a good life. Perseverance helps me be resilient when encountering adversity and failure. It is that voice in my head constantly reminding me to keep at it, especially when it is not what I want to do. Most of my important life goals could not be achieved without persistence. While I may be persistent by nature, I have worked to develop that ability. It has served me well.

Persistence is a neutral or enabler virtue; its value depends on how it is applied. Being persistent does not make a person good. A person can persist in doing anything – good or bad. The ends achieved with persistence determine whether it improves life or not.

Persistence requires self-discipline. Life is full of distractions. Mental discipline is needed to ignore distractions and focus on what is essential. That is not easy. Distractions are often fun and pleasurable. Who wants to do hard work when the opportunity for play and pleasure is an alternative? My experience is that self-discipline is an endless battle. It does not come naturally and is a habit that needs relentless practice.  

Understanding and accepting the value of delayed gratification helps develop persistence. Delayed gratification is the idea that foregone pleasure, hard work, or even sacrifice today will provide greater pleasure or benefits in the future. The idea creates the motivation to keep at something. If someone is not convinced of the long-term wisdom of delayed gratification, why not live for today? In my experience, delayed rewards and benefits reinforce good habits such as persistence and hard work. The payoffs have nearly always justified the sacrifices.

An example is my early learning of the value of saving. I believed putting away part of what I earned, starting with the money I made babysitting, would provide financial security and greater freedom in time. Persistence and self-discipline were necessary, which meant not getting or doing what I wanted now. Sometimes, I envied friends with things or experiences I didn’t have because I chose to save. But persistence paid off. Many small sacrifices yielded freedom and peace of mind later in life. And I learned that many things I gave up weren’t that important to my happiness.

Judgment must temper and guide persistence. Judgment is needed to focus persistence on the right things. The goals pursued should be attainable and help us thrive. We want to avoid the persistent pursuit of Quixotic and unworthy goals. Persistent pursuit of unworthy goals is not a virtue.

How one persists requires judgment as well. Relentless pursuit of something can be irritating. A persistent person can become a pest rather than someone we admire. Persistence can be counterproductive if not done with skill and judgment.

Maintaining focus means doing something to the exclusion of other tasks. It means setting and sticking with priorities. This inevitably leads to the need to say “no” or at least “not now.” It can mean not meeting the needs or wants of others. Focus requires saying no to yourself and to others. That can be unpleasant, and it requires skill to do positively. But without priorities and saying no, limited time will be dissipated in chasing too many goals. The value of persistence will be lost.   

Developing good habits is how persistence is actualized. Through habits, one stays organized, sets priorities, and stays focused. I have found it easy to neglect the good habits needed to be successfully persistent. Instead, life gets driven not by me but by others and events I don’t control. In time I realize I am falling short of achieving my goals. I realize I must return to the good habits that have worked so well in the past. One has to persist in being persistent.

Finally, persistence has helped me through many hard times. It has made me more resilient. Being persistent and developing the necessary habits has helped me bounce back from failures and setbacks. It has helped my avoid the endless rumination of mistakes and loss. Instead, it has encouraged action.

My feelings of discouragement, anxiety, and depression from mistakes, misfortune, and loss can be alleviated by getting back at the tasks needed to achieve my goals. The stress from a sleepless night worrying about why something went wrong is often relieved by simply taking action. Doing something, sometimes almost anything, will move things forward after a setback. Progress brings positive feelings to replace the negative. To paraphrase an aphorism from a way of life long gone, when you fall (or are thrown) off the horse, the best thing to do is get back on. No problem gets solved or goal achieved without action. Persistence means repeatedly taking action.