I was speaking at a convention in Atlanta last month and the great Martin Seligman appeared on stage before me. It would not be an understatement to say that Seligman is one of the creators of modern behavioral psychology. I studied his work in college and graduate school. I don’t usually listen to other speakers at conferences at which I present, but I was riveted to his session.

He said something that we all should immediately apply and incorporate into our work:

His research has found that perseverance and resilience are twice as important to success as talent and IQ.

That is, perseverance and resilience are two-thirds of the equation to success, and natural talent is just one-third.

Which means we must execute, even in the face of external rejection or internal doubts. We must make the second effort, and the third and the seventh, until we attain what we seek. Make the call, even when you don’t want to. Visit the prospect, even if they’ve said no. In our work, no doesn’t really mean no. It simply means “not at this moment,” so persevere, and present the prospect with another moment.

The Evangelist Marketing Institute is a revenue growth consultancy specializing in aggressive sales growth for closely-held companies. If you’d like to discuss growing your business quickly and easily, please call Alex Goldfayn directly at 847-459-6322, or email at alex[at]evangelistmktg[.]com

My new book, The Revenue Growth Habit, has been selected one of the five best sales books of the year by 800-CEO-Read. I’m appreciative of the honor. You can buy it on Amazon here.