Tenacity is a Success Code

Want to listen to this week’s edition of Ultra Successful? Click here or scroll to the bottom of the post to tune in.

---

People often confuse persistence with tenacity. 

While persistence will have you doggedly pushing toward the goal…tenacity will have you pushing and, often, adapting. Adjusting to continue to win. 

If I were to put my finger on a trait that I see every single week highlighted in one way or another through conversations I have, it would be tenacity. It is in many of the entrepreneurs just starting out, and it’s certainly seen in ambitious executives and founders who are quite established or well on their way. 

You see, persistence is natural for a lot of ambitious people — to have a singular goal and push — but often when persistent people meet up against obstacles, they either keep pushing…or drop out, get discouraged, or run up against a barrier that is just insurmountable. Tenacious people will find the side door, go around the wall, see the cracks, or just find another path altogether so they can get it done.

Persistent people stick to the plan to get to the goal.
Tenacious people may change their plan altogether.

Persistent people can be stubborn (in a good way), but they can also break when obstacles get too rough. On the flip side? Tenacious people are all-in but adaptable. They can flex, and they use it to their advantage.

People can spend their lives being the hardest worker in the room, going nowhere,  and they’re not always sure where things have gone wrong. 

At the end of the day, there is a nuance between persistence and tenacity, and that nuance will be the difference between staying the same and break-out runs in your work and life.