Perseverance is Not A Long Race – Walter Elliot

Perseverance is not a long race: Perseverance and hard work go together – In most places, these two are used interchangeably. However, perseverance is beneficial when we take feedback and continuously improve. It is a long race but with multiple stops in between. In each of these stops, we rest, recover and grow thus gaining strength to complete the journey. The most important thing is to ensure that we continue through the journey and make it as fulfilling as possible. Hence, the quote – perseverance is not a long race, but multiple short races. And that’s also the fun part, isn’t it? Without these multiple small stops, we will not know if we are going in the right direction.

Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short ones

Perseverance is not the same as hard work. The main difference between perseverance and plain hard work is the ability to use feedback and change our approach consistently. Talent alone is never enough, we need hard work to ensure that we do justice to our talents. However, hard work and perseverance are used interchangeably and sometimes even called smart work. The bottom line is that perseverance is about making sure that we stay on top of the final goal and outcome.

The main outcome is the vision that we are after – it is split into multiple milestones and small goals in the process. Hence the quote – perseverance is not a long race but many small races one after the other. These small races tell us how well we are performing and what we need to change. Once we respond to these small goals, change and adapt, we will be able to continue the momentum. The worst thing to happen while focusing on a large goal is to lose steam and quit. Its in these moments that we have to ask ourselves why we started in the first place.

The main part of this quote tells us that motivation is hard to maintain. The best way to maintain this motivation is through these small races and making sure that we are listening to the outcomes of these races. These small steps add to the final goal and get us closer to success. The moral of the story is – don’t lose steam and the best way to maintain this marathon of a long race is through small races and successes that help us.

Perseverance Meaning

Before analysing this lovely quote by Walter Elliot about perseverance, it is important to understand the meaning of perseverance. Some of the common definitions of perseverance include:

Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success: The key point here are doing things despite difficulty. While considering a large goal or dream, we need to think about how to keep our motivation alive amidst failures. As we know – success and failure are two sides of the same coin and invariably you’ll face failure. Perseverance is a way of ensuring that you fight amidst these failures to reach your success.

Perseverance is also synonymous with determination, endurance and grit. I’d like to combine these perseverance meanings into a single point because they all tell us to do the same thing. Focus on the large goal – why you want to do something and do small things to achieve it. This is precisely where Walter Elliot’s quote is most valuable because it tells you clearly – perseverance is not a long race. It might be a large goal, but built upon small successes to achieve this large goal. It is a reference to – success is a journey and not just a destination in our lives.

To persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking despite counter influences, opposition, or discouragement: This will be my last exploration of perseverance meaning because it talks about opposition to your beliefs. Success is not always an imperative, we will face challenges in our journey. These oppositions are valuable in telling us that something is wrong. But they don’t tell us that you are bound to fail. We must make sure that we’re able to listen to this feedback to define a strategy for our success. (Related: Perseverance meaning from Brittanica)

Perseverance Quotes for Students

In this post, I’d like to highlight a few popular perseverance quotes for students. Although I’ve said these are perseverance quotes for students, they easily apply to us in different journeys.

There are two ways you can approach quotes on perseverance for students. As a student, your approach can be about gaining knowledge to become better. This is a continuous, long process to which perseverance suits very well. The other approach is result-based where you’re focussed on outcome. This however is a short-term approach and it is likely to encourage some shortcuts. As a student, our primary allegiance is towards knowledge and becoming better. Everything else, perhaps sometimes even the result is a bonus!

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop – Confucius

Going on one more round when you don’t think you can, that’s what makes all the difference – Sylvester Stallone

Success is not final and failure is not fatal, it is the courage that counts – Winston Churchill

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward – Martin Luther King Jr

Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short races one after the other – Walter Elliott

Quotes on Perseverance