The Power of Endurance: Teaching Youth to Persist Against All Odds

The image in this post is an image from Midjourney. We have a Midjourney license agreement to use images and design tools from the Midjourney site.

Learning Pursuit Pointer #11:

Endurance is the ability to last. People with endurance continue and remain in the fight. They don't give up.

Learning Pursuit Pointer #11, from Chad Carmack's book Mentor Them or They Will: Expert Advice for Youth Mentors Who Teach Self-Discipline Life Skills, emphasizes endurance.

You don't have to be a mountain climber to understand how a challenge can weigh you down. With a mindset of I will not stop, a person is practicing the principle of success linked to endurance.

Youth mentors should look for examples of endurance and share them with young people. Here are a few endurance ideas I shared recently with youth in my leadership team:

• A majority of people do not practice endurance. Those who refuse to stop when the mountain of challenges seems insurmountable are rare individuals on their way to demonstrating a successful life skill.

• If you demonstrate endurance in one part of your life, you can use that as a springboard to other areas. You've already proven that you know how to tough it out and get to the end, so why not continue with the challenge you are facing right now?

The youth of my leadership team have demonstrated endurance as they take on the more challenging parts of our curriculum. Their efforts will pay off as they gain experience, taking one step at a time and enduring.

Questions:

• What did you learn when faced with a significant challenge and endured to a successful ending?

• When faced with a challenge and had to endure, did you have to adapt and make changes to accomplish your goals?

• Think of a person in your life who has demonstrated endurance repeatedly. What did you learn by observing this person?