Energy and Persistence Conquer All Things

There’s a quote I love from Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of our nation: “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

Do Something

I love the quote because it’s so simple, yet incredibly deep and true. If you want to overcome an obstacle, you have to apply energy in the direction of the thing you want. Things just don’t change on their own. You have to apply energy and effort. You have to get moving. You have to get active and do something.

Keep at It

And, sometimes things don’t work out exactly as you planned. Even for very successful people, not everything works. If you get knocked down, you have to get up, dust yourself off, and try again. The key factor that differentiates successful people from unsuccessful people isn’t whether they fail. Everyone fails. The key differentiating factor is what they do AFTER they fail. Successful people learn from their failures and try again.

Searching for a Quarterback

Here’s a simple example from my own life: This was a tough fantasy football season for me. The most challenging position for me to get right this year was quarterback. I drafted Baker Mayfield of the Browns, thinking he was in line to have a breakout season, especially now that he had Odell Beckham Jr. to throw the ball to.

He stunk. After a few games in which he underperformed, I was searching the waiver wire for a new option. I thought I had found a gem in Gardner Minshew of the Jaguars, but eventually the team benched him for Nick Foles. I tried Nick Foles, Daniel Jones, and Sam Darnold. Each of them had a good game here or there, but they were inconsistent. I felt like it might be hopeless to find a good starting quarterback this year.

Finally, I picked up Ryan Tannehill. I didn’t have high hopes, because he has been mediocre throughout his career. But he’s been playing awesome, and he has carried me into the fantasy football playoffs!

The Lesson

Here’s the lesson: If things aren’t going the way you want them to in your life, take action. Apply energy to your situation and see if you can shift something in the right direction. And if the first thing you do doesn’t work, keep trying and don’t give up. Energy and persistence conquer all things.