Website design By BotEap.comFor centuries, people have sung that the most persistent person wins the prize. In this article, I am going to challenge that belief. I assert that it is not persistence that makes the difference. It is the shedding of beliefs that allows an individual to move on. While I understand that people in the stands watching a sporting event have opinions about successful athletes. Something is happening on the pitch that the fans can’t see. The same applies when people see what they call persistence.

Website design By BotEap.comFor starters, the human brain stores everything it hears, smells, and sees in neuropaths. Those neuropaths have their attitudes and belief systems. When you were born, you were told that you could be anything you wanted. However, when he said that he wanted to be CEO of the Fortune 500, he may have been told that he was a realist. If he was black or Hispanic, he may have been warned that being CEO of the Fortune 500 is so rare for blacks and Hispanics that it’s best to focus on being a doctor or a lawyer. Many women may have been told the same thing. In addition, she was told that women and minorities have to work twice as hard as white men, especially if those men come from well-off families.

Website design By BotEap.comThis type of conversation creates cognitive dissonance. Which refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. This produces a feeling of discomfort that leads to an alteration in some of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce discomfort and restore balance. In other words, being told that you can be anything you want but the CEO is unrealistic creates tension and internal conflict. One way is to stay in the conflict and pursue your dreams. The other is to avoid conflict and follow your parents’ advice.

Website design By BotEap.comAlthough cognitive dissonance may have initially started with your parents, you inherit the same conflicting thoughts that your parents have. Because you trust your parents, you trust that they know what they are talking about, even if you think you may be the exception. (Depending on socioeconomic class, being a doctor or a lawyer may seem unrealistic. Thus, the child is told to focus on getting a lower-paying job with benefits, for example. By the way, many children get discouraged when they want to be professional athletes.)

Website design By BotEap.comGoing against your parents is simultaneously going against the conversations stored in your neuropaths. As you can see, this creates a dilemma for the individual. As a result, a woman or a minority could sabotage a great career because they spent time looking for evidence to prove that they can’t be a Fortune 500 CEO. They would look for evidence that they have to work twice as hard. Even those two beliefs work against each other. Why?

Website design By BotEap.comWhile the CEO’s job is extremely demanding, he or she must be able to delegate. If a woman or a minority believes that working twice as hard is what got her to the CEO position, she may believe that is what she has to do to stay in that position. Eventually, that person will feel overwhelmed because they didn’t delegate effectively. An overwhelmed CEO could result in a poorly performing company and eventually lose their job. There is a saying that the best CEOs work at their companies, not in them.

Website design By BotEap.comAlso, you may be so exhausted from working twice as hard that you may be discouraged from seeking a higher level of management. So working twice as hard can be a double-edged sword.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat does this have to do with perseverance? If a woman or a minority is told that being a CEO is unrealistic, they will have mental barriers that prevent them from seeking a CEO. While those conversations may be stored in her brain, upon introspection, she will see that those thoughts and beliefs are not hers. They are the beliefs of your parents, teachers, media, etc. Therefore, you are not required to comply with them. As you shed the inherited beliefs of others, you can open a clear path for new thoughts and beliefs. This time they will be the thoughts you choose for your life.

Website design By BotEap.comOn the other hand, if you never inherited conflicting beliefs, you would have a clear mindset. That mindset would allow you to go through every phase of success in your life with power and promptness. To the observer, you would seem persistent. Contrary to the observer, you would have the advantage of seeing no barriers. The same possibility occurs to the person who gets rid of inherited barriers. With built-in barriers, you spend time conflicting with them or stripping them down. If you don’t know how to remove them, you’re stuck. Without the barriers, you have freedom and open fields to do what you want.