The Pertinacity Principle: The Number One Secret Of Success

[Dale King]

I want you to forget about all of those success and self-improvement books you've read. Forget about all of the business advice you've received over the years. Forget about how many times you've failed in the past. None of that matters now, because I'm about to reveal to you the number one secret of success.

Are you ready? Here it is: It's called "The Pertinacity Principle." So, what exactly is The Pertinacity Principle? The Pertinacity Principle means never backing down and always pushing to achieve. It means trying over and over again, regardless of how many times you fail. In essence, it means never giving up, never quitting until you achieve whatever it is you desire in life.

I know, I know, you've heard it all before, right? Wrong. To begin with, I invented The Pertinacity Principle. Don't believe me? Go to your favorite search engine and look up "The Pertinacity Principle." You won't find that principle anywhere else except under my name. So you see, you've never heard it explained before.

"Never backing down and always pushing to achieve. It means trying over and over again, regardless of how many times you fail. In essence, it means never giving up...never quitting, until you achieve whatever it is you desire in life."

It sounds so simple doesn't it? It's not, because in order to make the principle work, somehow, someway, starting today, you must acquire the pertinacity of a pit bull. So, how pertinacious is a pit bull?

It's been said that if a pit bull clamps down on an object, in order to get it to release, you literally have to shoot the animal. Is that true? I have no idea. It could be an urban legend for all I know. But guess what? It doesn't matter, because that's the kind of pertinacity you'll need to acquire if you want to achieve success at the highest level.

Is pertinacity really that important? In my opinion, it's the most important ingredient necessary to achieve success. Here's why I feel that way: You can literally screw up all of the other principles of success and still succeed at the highest level, as long as you have pertinacity.

Let's examine a few of the top prinicples of success to prove my theory:

1. Focus: I consider focus every bit as important for success as pertinacity. However, in my opinion, focus is a by-product of pertinacity. If you have pertinacity you will automatically have the necessary focus that's required for success.

2. Determination: It's basically a less intense version of pertinacity.

3. Discipline: How many times have you heard someone say, "So and so is a great athlete, but he lacks discipline." Or, "She's a marvelous actress, but she's so undisciplined." I'm not saying discipline isn't important, it is. But you can certainly achieve success without it.

4. Taking Risks: Some of the most successful people in the world are also known to be the most conservative. They don't take risks.

5. Being Decisive: Again, important. But I also know of some very "wishy-washy" people who are also very successful. Granted, most of them are politicians.

6. Leadership: Basketball superstar Tracy McGrady is often called the "reluctant superstar," because of his quiet, unassuming nature. He's quite happy not being a leader, and he's obviously quite successful.

Again, I emphasize...I'm not saying the aforementioned success principles aren't important. They are. All I'm saying is, it's possible to achieve success without them, as long as you have pertinacity.

In closing, acquire the pertinacity of a pit bull and nothing will be able to stop you from achieving success!

[paul2145r]

I like the term pertinacity, but I'm not sure if I completely agree with ALWAYS pushing forwards. For example- if we are working on a venture, and realize that it is being built on a sandy foundation- should we press on knowing that there is little chance for success while heading in this direction?

A 'tactful retreat' is sometimes crucial in order to start fresh and with a more firm foundation.

Now, in the case of a venture or idea that is well-founded-- your principles definitely ring true.

BTW- when are you going to write your own "self help" book, Dale? I want a signed copy!

[Dale King]

Wonderful thoughts, as always, Dale. Although I suppose you could always make arguments for trying to fit it into one of the above categories, I would have to add "Staying positive" to your list. Even when things don't seem to be going your way, not only must you be focused, determined, and disciplined, among other things, but you must be able to look at the good things in life, at the positives, at failures as "learning experiences," at the next time as "THE time," and not get down. This is what will enable you to be pertinacious.

(*Dale, I hereby assign all rights to the word "pertinacious" over to use to be used in conjunction with your word, "pertinacity.")

Thanks, Jonathan! If you read between the lines of my article, you'll realize that having "true" pertinacity auotmatically brings all of the other success elements into play. In other words, if you have true pertinacity, you will also have a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). Of course, this is all based on my own personal observations and is not necessarily a basis in fact.

Dale King

[BusinessAdviser]

I like the term pertinacity, but I'm not sure if I completely agree with ALWAYS pushing forwards. For example- if we are working on a venture, and realize that it is being built on a sandy foundation- should we press on knowing that there is little chance for success while heading in this direction?

A 'tactful retreat' is sometimes crucial in order to start fresh and with a more firm foundation.

Now, in the case of a venture or idea that is well-founded-- your principles definitely ring true.

BTW- when are you going to write your own "self help" book, Dale? I want a signed copy!

I could be wrong, so correct me if I am, Dale, but I don't know that he ever said that one should be "ALWAYS pushing forwards."

Dale defined "pertinacity," at least in part, several times as "always pushing to achieve," which is very different from "always pushing forwards."

Achieving means meeting some goal. I would argue that continuing to reassess your business and determining that things need to be changed or reworked, or even abandoned, falls within "always pushing to achieve," as the goal is to create a successful business, in this example. In fact, failing to take that step back to reassess and possibly even abandon a venture is a necessity of "always pushing to achieve."

Make any sense?

[Dale King]

I like the term pertinacity, but I'm not sure if I completely agree with ALWAYS pushing forwards. For example- if we are working on a venture, and realize that it is being built on a sandy foundation- should we press on knowing that there is little chance for success while heading in this direction?

A 'tactful retreat' is sometimes crucial in order to start fresh and with a more firm foundation.

Now, in the case of a venture or idea that is well-founded-- your principles definitely ring true.

BTW- when are you going to write your own "self help" book, Dale? I want a signed copy!

My article is not meant to be a "be all, end all" solution by any means. Common sense always has to prevail. Yes, develop pertinacity, but if you realize that you're building a castle of sand...ABORT.

It's funny you asked about me writing a book, because I've been asked by a couple of VIP's to co-author a self-help book. While I'm flattered by the offers, if I wrote a book, it would probably be a solo project. Why? Because I'm an ego-maniac and wouldn't want to share the glory. That being said, writing a book requires a great deal of time and energy. That means I'd have to put several other projects on hold. I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that at this point. Stay tuned.

Dale King

[Dale King]

I could be wrong, so correct me if I am, Dale, but I don't know that he ever said that one should be "ALWAYS pushing forwards."

Dale defined "pertinacity," at least in part, several times as "always pushing to achieve," which is very different from "always pushing forwards."

Achieving means meeting some goal. I would argue that continuing to reassess your business and determining that things need to be changed or reworked, or even abandoned, falls within "always pushing to achieve," as the goal is to create a successful business, in this example. In fact, failing to take that step back to reassess and possibly even abandon a venture is a necessity of "always pushing to achieve."

Make any sense?

Jonathan, you are correct. The whole concept of my article is "push to achieve" - although one could reasonably argue that "push to achieve" and "push forward" mean basically the same thing. That being said, even though I never said it in my article, you also have to have the common sense to abort a project that has no realistic chance of success. I call such projects 'castles of sand."

Dale King