5 P’s of Achievers
Perspective – Patience – Perseverance – Pride in Accomplishment – Practice ‘til PerfectPerspective is both about the goals you want to achieve and about yourself. Before you start your great endeavor, you’ll need to know the lay of the land. What are the obstacles in the world and in yourself? What resources do you have at hand and which ones could be called on if needed? Who do you know that has walked a similar road that can help you see the path or coach you to reach the goal? Before you put a lot of work into going somewhere, it’s important to have some idea of how to get there! Our best plans for success often come after the accumulation of lived experience because we have perspective to draw on.

Patience can mean that you need more lived experience before the goal you seek is attainable. It also means that once you have the right perspective and plan, you can’t rush your opportunity! If you’ve finally figured out the list of attributes that you want for a life partner, don’t rush to find a match! It’s exciting to know what you want, but all the work you put in will be wasted unless you relax and look for the perfect opportunity to begin. Once you’ve worked out the exact specifications of the house you want to buy, don’t rush to find something or all that work will have been in vain.

Perseverance is for the goals that really matter. Anything that creates real change in your life is going to take perseverance. Once the easy parts of a task are completed and the first stages learned, you’ll always come to the part that takes real grit to accomplish. Maybe it’s the stage of a physical discipline where your body needs to grow, shrink, or adapt to a new activity. Physical change is always grueling. Maybe it’s the stage of a mental endeavor where to keep up with the next level you need a new language, lingo, or script that causes your brain to stretch. Equally grueling. The ability to persevere and the knowledge that perseverance is the only way through are critical to great achievement!

Pride in Accomplishment is not only indulging in the rewards of plateaus overcome and obstacles passed, but also in seeing the little victories along the way. One of the great secrets of perseverance is to journal or chart your progress. What feels like a plateau isn’t nearly as static as it seems, and when you measure it your little steps will shine out. Acknowledging the small achievements and milestones is what keeps you motivated during a great endeavor.

Practice ‘til Perfect is obviously a bit of a trick since we know that the pursuit of perfection is an endless journey. Anything that requires the development of skill and art cannot reach perfection since the more you learn, the more ways you learn to grow. There’s no final perfect marriage, just the endless pursuit and growth of the relationship. There’s no perfect song, only the endless growth of the artist that writes or sings it. There is, however, a final goal. When the practice of growth and the celebration of accomplishments becomes the steady background of your life, you achieve perfection through your practice. The practice itself transforms into the perfection you always sought.