Persistence is the key to success.

Author: Li Keshi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Following "Details Determine Success," another masterpiece in promoting the concept of persistence! Perseverance is the prerequisite for all success. An individual must persevere to achieve a brilliant life; a company must persevere to achieve lasting success; a nation must persevere to maintain invincibility. With a strong sense of social responsibility, the author uses vivid language and concise prose to provide an insightful analysis of how to maintain persistence from a unique perspective. The book is passionate yet rational, making it a superior work in the category of motivational literature.
Only Persistence Can Lead Us Out of Difficulties
There is a cartoon: A ferocious water bird is standing by the water's edge, devouring a frog. The frog's head and most of its body have been swallowed by the bird, leaving only a pair of powerless, flailing legs. Yet the frog does not give up its struggle for survival. It manages to tear its front claws free from the bird's mouth and tightens its grip around the bird's slender neck. It persists, never relaxing, never giving up. Finally, the bird loses patience, and the frog seizes the opportunity to escape.
It seems that no matter how dire the misfortune, one must persevere for hope; as long as one persists, life will reveal miracles. Persistence is the negation of despair. One can never despair in life. When faced with adversity, one must not be intimidated by immediate misfortune. To persevere in adversity, to rise in the face of misfortune, one must believe that life cannot always be dark, nor can it always be winter. Standing in the winter of life, one must maintain faith and anticipate the arrival of spring; walking in the night of life, one must grasp the call of belief and welcome the dawn of life. To persevere with resilience and to stubbornly resist will inevitably conquer adversity.
A Western scholar once wrote: "At any given time, one must constantly encourage oneself spiritually. Everything is possible, and to reach a new stage in life, one must first begin with perseverance."
Fifty years ago, a Colombian naval destroyer encountered a storm in the Caribbean Sea, and eight sailors went missing. Two hours after the tragedy, a search operation began with the assistance of the U.S. military. Four days later, the search was called off, and the missing sailors were declared dead. However, one week later, one survivor miraculously made it ashore on a desolate beach in northern Colombia. For ten days, he drifted on a raft in the sea, with no food or fresh water, until he was barely alive when he reached the shore. His name was Luis A. Velasco.
When asked how he endured those ten nights filled with terror, solitude, and the threat of death, his answer was simple: perseverance. He said that every morning, as the sun rose above the horizon, he reminded himself that he was alive and that he was closer to land, closer to life. Finally, on the morning of the tenth sunrise, he spotted circling seagulls, the flickering lights of a passing ship, and coconut trees swaying in the wind.
What did this Colombian man persevere in? What did he rely on to persevere? He persevered in his refusal to bow to misfortune and death, in his determination to overcome difficulties. And all of this was fueled by a spirit—one that had not lost its way in the face of adversity. This spirit ultimately made death step back.
In our lifelong struggles, we are inevitably faced with misfortune and adversity. While this is not fate, it is the of life. At such times, a steadfast resolve is crucial for everyone. As long as one persists, there is hope of emerging from the darkness before us, breaking through the barriers of destiny, and moving toward renewal. Only through perseverance can we offer our souls comfort, letting them believe that in the face of time, all hardships are temporary.
Life requires strength, and strength can be infinitely extended. No adversity can withstand the relentless resistance of a strong-willed person. Those with a strong character have the determination to face any challenge life throws at them.
The Chinese people universally praise the once achieved by the Rong family's business. A "History of the Rong Family Enterprise" tells us that the rise of the Rong family was indeed full of twists and turns, but what was truly admirable was that the brothers Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng never retreated in the face of various blows, difficulties, and setbacks. They always faced reality calmly, remained steadfast in their pursuit, and grew from small to large, from weak to strong, eventually becoming one of China's most influential business groups.
You see, in the early days, the Rong brothers partnered with others to open the Guangsheng Exchange in Shanghai. In the first two years, as there was no significant profit, the partners grew impatient and withdrew all their shares. Though weakened, the Rong brothers remained resolute, declaring that they would persevere in running the Guangsheng Exchange regardless of the circumstances. Years later, the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded, leading to a sharp increase in military demand in the north. At the time, remittances for grain purchases were sent from Shanghai to various parts of the country, one after another, allowing the Guangsheng Exchange to profit year after year.
For example, the textile enterprises founded by the Rong brothers faced dire circumstances after World War I, when Western powers once again intensified their efforts to seize the Chinese market. Under these circumstances, the textile industry of the Rong family's business group was thrown into a difficult situation. At that time, they had 74,000 spindles and over 1,100 looms in Shanghai and Wuxi, producing over 200,000 pieces of yarn and 200,000 bolts of cloth annually. However, as Western powers vied for dominance, imported yarn and cloth, like other "foreign" goods, flooded the streets, and domestic textiles were marginalized, losing their market.
At the same time, after the founding of the Nanjing Nationalist government in 1927, not only did it fail to help the Rong family's business group out of its, but it also imposed huge public debts and arrested Rong Zongjing on the grounds of passive resistance, forcing him to endure and compromise. Especially after Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931, the Rong family's business group's market in northern China shrank sharply, and their business conditions deteriorated drastically. The liabilities of the Shenxin series were nearly equal to their assets, and they faced the brink of bankruptcy.
Adversity could not crush the hero. Rong Zongjing did not despair, had no intention of retreating, and had no thought of giving up. He said that no matter what, he would endure, and that perseverance would surely lead to a positive outcome. He repeatedly requested the Executive Yuan to approve relief bonds for Shenxin, but due to the obstruction of the bureaucratic capital, which had long coveted the Rong family's assets, this could not be realized. In the end, the Rong brothers risked everything, using all their assets as collateral to obtain loans from multiple money exchanges in Shanghai, such as Xinkang and Zikang, thus passing another.
Tragedy struck again. You should also look at the other pillar of the Rong family's business—the flour milling industry. The Wuxi Maoshin Flour Mill and the Shanghai Fuxin Flour Mill, founded by the Rong brothers, had by 1921 expanded to twelve branches, with nearly 300 steel mills and a daily production capacity of over 20,000 bags. However, in the years 1925 and 1926, three enterprises—Fuxin No. 1, Maoshin No. 2, and Maoshin No. 3—were reduced to ashes in fires.
Wildfire cannot burn the grass; the wind of spring will always bring it back to life. The Rong brothers did not lose their will in the face of natural and human disasters. Standing amidst the ruins, Rong Zongjing told his family: "As long as the spirit is not burned away, we have nothing to fear." They rallied their spirits, integrated, and rebuilt. A few years later, the number of mills had grown to nearly 250, with a daily production capacity of 30,000 bags. By the early 1930s, the Rong family's flour production accounted for one-third of the total output in the interior provinces of China at the time; the textile industry's total assets had reached over 73 million yuan, making it the largest cotton spinning group in China.
What is this? This is the power of perseverance. The essence of perseverance is that it can enhance the intensity of will. Thus, even if hope seems distant, he can calmly wait for it; even if, as Tchaikovsky said, "Whenever one sees the light of hope in the distance, they are repeatedly struck by the hammer of fate," he will remain unyielding and steadfast; even if the process is complex, he will remain calm, tolerating, patient, and observing the rise and fall of events, as the saying goes, "Let the winds and waves rise, but remain steady as a fisherman on their hook."
From this perspective, perseverance is also a kind of composure, a kind of tolerance, a kind of unwavering determination.
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