Perseverance vs Persistence vs Resilience: Navigating the Differences
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Written by: Jonette Dyer
What makes one woman successful, in spite of the challenges life throws at her, while another seems to get sidetracked every time problems come her way? The answer may lie in her ability to persist, persevere, and feel resilient. From the ages of 20 to 60, life throws a significant number of changes for modern women. From finding relationships to having kids to launching careers and even retiring from those careers, perseverance, persistence, and resilience will all be important as you navigate these ages. Here is a deep dive into these character traits and how they show up in your life.
What is Perseverance?
When you are able to continue putting in effort to reach your goals, even when life throws difficulties at you, you exhibit perseverance. This character quality allows you to stay committed to the goals you have, even when you face tough times. Someone who is an athlete and continues to train daily, even when making minimal gains, shows perseverance.
What is Persistence
Persistence means staying on the same path, even when difficulties arise. Someone who is persistent is a little bit stubborn, and they will refuse to give up, even if facing challenges. Even with setbacks, you keep going.
Perseverance vs Persistence: Understanding the Differences
Based on those two definitions, perseverance and persistence have quite a few similarities, but there are a few differences. Perseverance focuses on the effort you put in. Persistence focuses on the journey forward. Persistence is more about being stubborn and refusing to give up, while perseverance means working hard to overcome obstacles but without the same sense of stubbornness. Though they are slightly different, these two qualities go hand-in-hand and are often found together.
What is Resilience?
Resilience means being able to bounce back quickly when problems arise. Someone who is resilient is able to learn from the challenges of life, adapting to changes when they occur. A woman who fails to get the job she wants exhibits resilience when she picks up and keeps working toward the next one.
Perseverance vs Resilience: Navigating Through Challenges
Like persistence, resilience is similar to perseverance, but with some differences. Resilience means that you can keep a state of equilibrium, even when life is difficult. Resilience refers to the way someone reacts to challenges and is able to keep steady with them. Perseverance is about the determination to keep moving forward rather than just staying steady. Resilience keeps you from feeling panic when problems arise, while perseverance gives you the drive to keep moving toward your goals.
The Role of Perseverance, Persistence, and Resilience in Personal Development
As you develop as a woman, you will find that perseverance, persistence, and resilience all work hand-in-hand. You will want each one in your life as you work toward growing and developing.
1. Cultivating Perseverance
To grow more perseverance in your life, start by setting clear, attainable goals. Then, celebrate the small wins along the way. This approach will help you realize you can keep pushing forward when challenges arise.
You can also support your drive toward perseverance by breaking down your goals into smaller tasks. This step gives you more to celebrate, too. Smaller steps toward big goals provide plenty of opportunities to cheer yourself on, and that helps develop a sense of perseverance.
2. Harnessing Persistence
To increase your persistence, start by cultivating a growth mindset. A growth mindset is the idea that you can better your situation with continued effort and work. It also believes that you are not in a fixed situation but can improve your situation through your own work.
When you have a growth mindset, failure is no longer a negative. You can embrace it as a learning opportunity. This, in turn, means you have the drive to keep going after a failure, learning from the mistake and growing from it.
3. Developing Resilience
To grow in your resilience, start by approaching life with a healthy sense of optimism. When you expect the best-case scenario, you are more likely to achieve it. Embrace change, rather than fighting it, and learn to approach problems as an opportunity to learn and grow, flexing your problem-solving abilities, rather than as hurdles you have to overcome.
Resilience requires strong relationships. You need to have people you can count on to step in when you face adversity. The people in your life will significantly impact your resilience by bolstering you up when you need it.
How Coaching Can Enhance Perseverance, Persistence, and Resilience
Perseverance, persistence, and resilience all go hand in hand in developing a positive life for today’s women, but sometimes the challenges of life can make it difficult to strive for these. Personal coaching can be a good way to keep moving forward.
For example, when you have a life coach, you can learn the problem-solving skills you need to be a resilient woman. A coach can also teach you how to shift your mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset as you work on persistence.
Coaching can also assist with goal-setting, a key factor in giving you motivation to persevere. All of these can create more motivation to push forward, even when life presents challenges.
Sometimes, the difference between failing and having perseverance, persistence, and resilience is the people in your life. Starting with coaching can be the first step in building the types of relationships you need to find success.
Jonette Dyer is a
life coach who offers personal coaching services for women who want to grow in their ability to push through problems. Whether you need help with
mental health,
career success, or just personal life skills, you can get that help from Jonette.
Get started today, and see how coaching can help you grow more perseverance, persistence, and resilience in your life.
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