Episode 946 · Mar 28, 2024

How to Build Persistence and Achieve Massive Results

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In this final installment of the eight-step series on The Daily Mastermind, George Wright III delivers what he calls a masterclass on persistence. Drawing heavily from Napoleon Hill's landmark book *Think and Grow Rich*, George makes the case that persistence is not just a nice-to-have quality. It is the foundational force that separates those who achieve lasting success from those who quit when things get difficult.

If you have been following this series, you have already worked through defining your vision, gaining clarity, making decisions with certainty, and taking massive action. Now George shows you why none of that matters without persistence to carry it forward through the inevitable resistance life will throw at you.

Why Persistence Outranks Talent, Genius, and Education

George opens with a quote from Calvin Coolidge that sets the tone for everything that follows:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Those words land hard because they are true. You know talented people who never broke through. You know educated people who never applied what they learned. Persistence is the variable that changes the equation. George urges you to rank it among your top personal values, not just your professional strategies.

Napoleon Hill's Four Steps to Developing Persistence

Napoleon Hill spent decades studying the habits of highly successful people, and in *Think and Grow Rich* he distilled the development of persistence into four steps that require no special intelligence, no advanced degree, and very little time to begin:

1. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment 2. A definite plan expressed in continuous action 3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions from relatives, friends, and acquaintances 4. A friendly alliance with one or more people who will encourage you to follow through with both your plan and your purpose

Notice that these four steps form a complete system. Desire gives you the fuel. A plan gives you direction. A guarded mind keeps you from being derailed. And a supportive alliance, what Hill calls a mastermind, keeps you accountable when your own conviction wavers.

The Reward That Comes with Persistence

Hill is clear that persistence is not just a discipline, it is a test. And the people who pass it receive more than their original goal:

No one enjoys great achievement without passing the persistence test. Those who can't take it simply do not make the grade. Those who can take it are bountifully rewarded for their persistence. They receive as their compensation, whatever goal they're pursuing.

The deeper reward is the knowledge that every failure carries within it the seed of an equivalent advantage. That framing is worth sitting with. Failure is not a stop sign. It is information, and often it is a redirection toward something better.

The Three Enemies You Must Clear Out

Persistence does not operate in a vacuum. It runs directly into three internal enemies: indecision, doubt, and fear. George notes that Napoleon Hill identified six basic fears that virtually every person faces at some point: the fear of poverty, the fear of criticism, the fear of ill health, the fear of losing someone they love, the fear of old age, and the fear of death.

The critical insight is that these fears are states of mind, not facts of reality. Your mind creates them, which means your mind can dissolve them. You cannot change your circumstances by wishing them away, but you can change your response to them by choosing which thoughts you feed and which ones you shut out. George puts it plainly: you have absolute control over one thing, your thoughts. Every outcome in your life starts there.

How to Burn the Ships and Commit Fully

One of the most powerful passages George shares from Hill addresses the difference between people who succeed and those who stop short:

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining the state of mind known as a burning desire to win.

Burning the ships is not recklessness. It is commitment. It is the decision to stop leaving yourself an easy exit so that forward is the only direction available. When riches, opportunities, and breakthroughs do arrive, Hill notes they often come quickly and in great abundance after years of apparent drought. The lean years are not proof that it is not working. They are part of the test.

The Role of Faith and Repetition

George closes with Hill's teaching on faith and affirmation. Repetition of affirmations to your subconscious mind is how you deliberately develop the emotion of faith. Faith, Hill writes, is the elixir that gives life and power and action to your thoughts. Thoughts mixed with emotion become a magnetic force. What you focus on, you draw toward you. If you focus on failure, you become failure-conscious. If you build a success-conscious mindset through repeated affirmation and deliberate action, opportunity will find its way to you, often through the very misfortunes you were trying to avoid.

Action Steps

Write down your definite purpose along with the burning desire that drives it. Review this statement every morning and every night.
Build your personal mastermind: identify one to three people who will actively encourage your goals and commit to connecting with them regularly.
Audit your mental inputs this week. Cut out conversations, content, and habits that reinforce doubt or feed your fears.
When you face a temporary defeat, write down one potential advantage or lesson that could be hidden inside it. Train yourself to look for the seed.
Choose one affirmation related to your vision and repeat it daily for the next 30 days. Pair the repetition with a clear mental image of the outcome you want.

Persistence is not the absence of struggle. It is the decision to keep moving through it. George Wright III and Les Brown both say it plainly: you have greatness inside of you. It is never too late to start living the life you were meant to live. All it takes is a decision, made today, followed by another one tomorrow.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

All right, it's Friday morning. Welcome back to the Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your final edition of our eight-step plan to create massive results. And today we're talking about persistence. And I'm telling you what, today is going to be a masterclass. I am telling you, we have got some amazing content and it's going to really cap off this eight-step series that we've been doing. But when I get this started, I want to start with kind of a quote. It's a quote about persistence from Calvin Coolidge. Calvin Coolidge said, nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. I'm telling you, persistence, when you start to really study it, is a topic that you can really, it really fascinates me, but it's something that I think will really create and open the gateway to floods of attracting wealth and fulfillment and happiness into your life. Persistence is a word that I think you ought to rank right up there in your top values in life. And for anything in life to work, it requires persistence. And in the best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill talks about persistence. And since that book is probably the most acquired and read book, in fact, I think it is the most bought and read book in human history outside of the Bible, I think there's no better way to end this eight-step series than to cover topics of persistence directly from Think and Grow Rich. So I'm going to do that today and talk and basically share these thoughts from Napoleon Hill with you. And I'm telling you, I want you to listen real carefully. I'm providing a serious literal masterclass right now. I'm going to take you these thoughts right out of Think and Grow Rich. Millions and millions and millions, 80 million copies sold. No, 100 million copies sold over 80 years. I mean, this is an incredible book. So I want you to take notes. I want you to go back to this episode as often as you can and share it. And I'm going to get right into it. So Napoleon Hill said, no one enjoys great achievement without passing the persistence test. Those who can't take it simply do not make the grade. Those who can take it are bountifully rewarded for their persistence. They receive as their compensation, whatever goal they're pursuing. And that's not all. They receive something infinitely more important than material compensation, the knowledge that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage. You've heard that before. There are exceptions to this rule. A few people know from experience, the soundness of persistence. They're the ones who have not accepted defeat as being anything more than temporary. So to develop persistence he goes on to say there are four simple steps which lead to developing this habit of persistence They don call for a great amount of intelligence no particular amount of education and really little time or effort. But these are the steps. Number one, a definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment. Now remember, we're talking about how to develop persistence. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment. Number two, a definite plan expressed in continuous action. And number three, a mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends, and acquaintances. I really like that one. And number four, a friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through both their plan and their purpose. I really love how he sums those up in a definite purpose backed by desire, a plan with continuous action, a mind closed tightly to negativity, and an alliance or a mastermind, you'd call it, with persons that will encourage you to follow through. Now, these four steps are essential for success in all walks of life. When one makes an impartial study of the prophets, philosophers, miracle men, and religious leaders of the past, you're drawn to the inevitable conclusion that persistence, concentration of effort, and definite of purpose were the main reasons for their achievement. And when riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well-conceived and carefully executed plans. So anyone can wish for riches. In fact, most people do, but only a few of them have a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth and their means and opportunity for creating that wealth. And one of America's most successful and best-known financiers, I think you'll know who this is, followed the habit of closing his eyes for two or three minutes before making a decision. And when asked why he did this, he said, with my eyes closed, I'm able to draw upon a source of superior intelligence. So, you know, look, making your desires clear and reducing them to writing is a key, but you'll also understand the necessity of persistence in carrying out those plans. It begins with study analysis and understanding that you will have three enemies that you will have to clear out. And these enemies are indecision, doubt, and fear. Indecision, doubt, and fear. And, you know, Napoleon Hill goes on to talk about the fact that there are six basic fears. And I love how he puts it. There are six basic fears with some combination of which every human suffers at least one time or another. Most people are fortunate if they do not suffer from all six, and named in order of their most common appearance, here they are, the fear of poverty, at the bottom of most of one's worries, the fear of criticism, the fear of ill health, the fear of loss of love, of someone that they know or admire, and the fear of old age, the fear of death. Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One state of is subject to control and direction. So man or woman can create nothing which he does not first conceive in his mind in the form of an impulse or thought. Following this fact may be explained by the statement that every human being has the ability to completely control his own mind and with his control obviously every human may open his mind to tramp those same thought impulses which are being released by their brain and close the door tightly to these impulses based on their own choices. Master the fear of loss, I'm sorry, master the fear of loss of love by reaching a decision to get along without love, if that's necessary. Kill the habit of worry in all of its forms by reaching a general blanket decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. He's really talking here about the fact that these six fears can be overcome with the same mind that creates the fears. And that's something that's so, so, so important. You may control your own mind. You have the power to feed it whatever thought impulses you choose. And with this privilege also comes responsibility of using it constructively. You're the master of your own destiny, just as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts. You may influence, direct, or eventually control your own environment, making your life what it is you want it to be. Or you can neglect to exercise the privilege which is yours to make your life to order, thus casting yourself upon the sea of circumstances, like a ship on the waves of the ocean. Now you have absolute control over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. We know this. This is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunities when it appears. Know what you want and have the determination to stand by that desire until you realize it. One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another. When riches begin to come, they come so quickly and in such great abundance that one wonders why they've been hiding or where those riches have been hiding during all the lean years. I like how he puts that, because the bottom line is, opportunity does come from misfortune. Now, he goes on to say, and this is the part I really want to emphasize here as we close, success comes from those who become success conscious. Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure and conscious. So when you focus on failure, you're going to get failure. Every person who wins in any undertaking, listen closely to this, must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining the state of mind known as a burning desire to win. It's essential to success. Success requires no apologies. Failure permits no alibis or excuses. If the thing you wish to do is right and you believe in it, go do it. Put your dreams across. And never mind what they, quote unquote, say if you meet with temporary defeat or naysayers. For they, quote unquote, perhaps do not know that every failure brings with it the seed of another success. Repetition of affirmations, this is a key, of orders. So he talks about repetition of affirmations to your subconscious mind is the only known method for voluntarily developing the emotion of faith See faith is that elixir which gives life power, and action is the impulse of your thought. Thoughts which are mixed with any feelings or emotions constitute a magnetic force which attracts from the vibrations of either related thoughts. So I wanted to share that with you because I believe that persistence absolutely is important for you to be able to execute on your eight steps, your plan, your vision. But persistence is going to be met by these invisible forces. You have to know that persistence is something that's going to constantly come up against this indecision, this doubt, and this fear. And you can only overcome those by being dedicated to your vision, dedicated and building that belief and that faith through action and repetition. So that's the topic I wanted to share with you today, which is persistence. I hope, in fact, it's my goal to help to inspire you to get to the point that you will really implement when you're in a time where you need to pivot these eight steps. this idea of creating your vision, having clarity around how you're going to get there, making decisions and flooding those decisions with certainty, and then all out massive action followed up with discipline and accountability. And then learning to value persistence and know that no matter what, the ups and downs, the cycles of life, the waves that hit you, the outside circumstances, that persistence is going to do it. Look, one of my friends and great mentors, Les Brown says, you have greatness inside of you. You do. It's not a matter of whether you believe it or not. You have greatness inside of you. And it's never too late to start living the life that you were meant to live. All it takes is a decision. All it takes is a decision to start today and to move forward in your life. Forget what's happened in the past. Forget all the failures. Forget all the things. Stop focusing on those and create a bright future vision that you can just focus on. and you will go unbelievable places this next year in 2022. Can't believe we're even saying that. 2022 is next year. And I hope you're prepared. I hope you're preparing yourself and I hope you're not waiting. I want you to punch through that starting gate at the beginning of the year. So take some of these, go back and listen to them if you need to, share these thoughts, DM me or tag me in your story. Let me know what you're struggling with. Let me know what's holding you back from creating the life that you really want to live so that we can cover some of these topics and I can get you some key learning, some key mentoring, some key strategies that I've picked up from the great experience that I've been grateful to have with all these thought leaders and my own personal experience over life over the last 20, 25 years in business. So that's my message for today. Have an amazing weekend. Live your best life every single day and I'll talk with you on Monday. Have a great day. you

About the host

George Wright III

George Wright III is an entrepreneur, investor, and the host of The Daily Mastermind. Over more than two decades he has founded and scaled several multimillion-dollar companies and built a renowned seminar business that put some of the world's biggest names and brands on stage. With 25+ years across marketing, sales, and executive leadership, he's made a career of turning bold ideas into results — and momentum into lasting growth.

Today his mission is singular: empower driven entrepreneurs everywhere to master their mindset, unlock their potential, and live their ultimate destiny. Through The Daily Mastermind, George shares the Prosperity Principles and strategies that help people create massive change — in their business and in their life.

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