There's a proverb that says, "Perseverance is power," and lately I've come to truly understand the depth of that proverb's meaning. If you continue doing the same thing for 10 or 20 years, anyone can become a professional in that field to some extent, regardless of differences in talent. However, in reality, very few people continue doing the same thing for 10 or 20 years. I think everyone gives up on themselves at some point. They draw a line at their own limits, thinking, "This is as good as I can get," or "I can't do any more than this." It's such a waste.
Dreams never run away. They're always waiting for you in the same place. It's always you who runs away. If you give up on your dreams, what's the point of living? I think if that happens, there's not much meaning to life anymore.
Because the ability to have dreams is a privilege unique to humans. The moment a person loses their dreams, they have given up on living as a human being. Even if their heart is still beating, without dreams, they are less likely to lose sleep over frustration, and they are less likely to shed tears of joy. Can such a life truly be called happy?
The size of your dream doesn't matter. Have a dream that excites you. Whether it comes true or not is something you'll have to see how it goes with time. Most dreams may not come true immediately, but if you work at it steadily over time, they will eventually come true.
There's a proverb that says, "Even a stone will warm up if you sit on it for three years," and indeed, you can't really see the true nature of something until you've continued doing the same thing for about three years. Most people judge whether something suits them or not after only trying it a little.
In my experience, the blossoming of talent and the achievement of goals seem to be about three steps ahead of the point where most people give up.
"I can't do it anymore. I can't. I've reached my limit."
When you feel like giving up, many people can persevere for another step or two, but very few can take a third step. Those who can take a third step are the ones who have accepted their fate. It is the people who can push forward relentlessly with the attitude of "it's okay if I fail" who will achieve their dreams. In the end, those who give up halfway and those who never started are the same. If you start something, I believe you should never stop until you have achieved something. If you're going to give up halfway, you shouldn't have started in the first place.
When starting something new, many people make decisions like, "Okay, I'm going to work really hard at this," or "I'm definitely going to do this by such and such a date." But very few people make a decision like, "Okay, once I start this, I'm definitely not going to quit until such and such a date." Let's aim to continue rather than to achieve something first. Whether you succeed or not depends on luck and timing. However, if you keep at it for a long time, your time will surely come someday. The perfect timing will come for you. At that time, you can shine to your heart's content. It's a shame that so many people give up before their time comes.
If you make the decision not to quit from the start, then all you have to do is continue doing it as enjoyably as possible. If you're going to work on something anyway, it's definitely better to do it enjoyably, right? I hope you'll take my way of thinking into consideration.
Furthermore, I've thought of two more points that I believe are important for continuing things.
One thing is to always keep your dreams close at hand. Dreams are the greatest motivation for starting or continuing something. Therefore, you need to keep your dreams close to you as much as possible every day. So, here's my idea: try greeting your dreams every day. Say "good morning" and "good night" to the things you want, the things you want to do, and the person you want to become, just like you would to a beloved partner. When you do this, you'll start to feel special emotions towards those dreams you haven't yet achieved. Once that happens, you've won. Because you won't be able to give up easily anymore.
Another thing is to eliminate excuses. Everyone loves to find reasons why they can't do something. Most people spend too much time justifying themselves. But that doesn't matter. The answer is always simple. What matters is the result. Did it work out as planned? Or not? That's all there is to it. Since you've decided to continue, there's no reason to give up. Think about reasons why you can do it. In fact, there are just as many reasons why you can do it as there are reasons why you can't. Stop thinking of reasons why you can stop, and start thinking of reasons why you can continue.
You don't need to think about why you're no good. Everyone has plenty of flaws. No one is without imperfections, and even if they were, they wouldn't be any good. Life is fun because even someone like you, with all your flaws, can succeed. Life is long and full of ups and downs. When things are going great, I tell myself, "Life is short, so I have to do my best." When things are going badly, I think, "I'll just take it easy. I still have a long life ahead of me." Take two steps forward, take one step back. That's how people grow. Everyone goes through slumps. And once you overcome a slump, you'll meet a more mature version of yourself.
Overcoming a slump is simple: just keep going. There's no tunnel that never ends, and no rain that never stops. There's always an exit to every tunnel, and the rain will eventually stop. People in the past used to perform rain dances when it didn't rain for a long time. And, miraculously, it always rained after they performed the rain dance. Why? The answer is simple: because they kept praying until it rained.
The important thing is to keep going at everything. Your current struggles will become a source of enjoyable conversation over drinks a few years from now. More important than reaching the goal is enjoying the journey to get there.
