This week I assembled a new two drawer filing cabinet I purchased as a flat pack from Amazon. As with many such assemblies it was far more complex and time consuming than I thought. Imagine my frustration when after all my hard work, following the instructions carefully (or so I thought), neither of the drawers would fit into the cabinet. My first thought as it often is in such situations (because it is easy to blame somebody else) was that I had been sent the wrong parts – but on reflection I realised it was more likely to be operator error. So, I persisted, put aside my frustration, and reviewed how I had constructed the two drawers – and sure enough I realised that I had put the runners on the wrong way round. Once this was corrected all was fine, I am now the proud owner of a new fully operational filing cabinet – well not quite as I had to raid Amazon again for some filing slings which I had forgotten.
There are many attributes professional people need to exhibit – I asked ChatGPT what qualities a professional person should have, and it came up with an impressive list of ten in about 20 seconds:
In the legal profession as in many others you need persistence, whatever jurisdiction you may practice in, just to get the necessary qualifications and work experience to become a practicing lawyer and get into the profession in the first place. I propose that this quality will then stand you in good stead throughout the inevitable ups and downs of your career.
See this blog What Are Persistence Skills? (With Examples) which defines persistence as “a personality trait that is characterized by the determination to achieve a goal despite the obstacles and delays that you may encounter” and “a soft skill that is important for professionals because your ability to overcome challenges will give you confidence, endear you to your coworkers, and open up new opportunities”. It then suggests ways to improve this attribute.
I also like this Dale Carnegie blog Persistence Visualising Where You Want To Go - 7 Ways to Build the Muscle of Persistence which include:
in every industry, in every culture, there’s one consistent trend among successful individuals, and that trend is the ability to persevere.
It observes But this is not always natural; it’s a learned trait and goes on to cite examples of famous people who persevered, one of which struck me in particular:
Take Abraham Lincoln, for example. He failed in business at the age of 21. He was defeated in a legislative race at age 22, failed again at business at age 24, overcame the death of his lover at age 26, had a nervous breakdown at age 27, lost a congressional race at 34 and 36, lost a senatorial race at 45, failed to become vice president at 47, lost a senatorial race at 49, and then finally was elected president of the United States of America at age 52.
I found this Harvard Business School article Giving Up Is the Enemy of Creativity which states Recent research of ours finds that one common factor often gets in the way: we tend to undervalue the benefits of persistence. It demonstrates by experiments how much more creative people can be if they persist with a creative task after seemingly running out of ideas citing the following examples.
Consider that Sir James Dyson developed over 5,000 prototypes before he patented his best-selling Dyson vacuum cleaner. Or that Walt Disney animated cartoons for nearly two decades before his first big hit, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
And see These 17 Quotes Will Inspire you to Be More Persistent of which I particularly like:
"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin.
"Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning." - Denis Waitley the American motivational speaker.
"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill.
So, to quote the old saying If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again then like me with my filing cabinet you will eventually succeed.
There are many attributes professional people need to exhibit – I asked ChatGPT what qualities a professional person should have, and it came up with an impressive list of ten in about 20 seconds:
- Expertise
- Reliability
- Adaptability
- Communication skills
- Time management
- Professionalism
- Problem-solving
- Continuous learning
- Interpersonal skills
- Integrity
In the legal profession as in many others you need persistence, whatever jurisdiction you may practice in, just to get the necessary qualifications and work experience to become a practicing lawyer and get into the profession in the first place. I propose that this quality will then stand you in good stead throughout the inevitable ups and downs of your career.
See this blog What Are Persistence Skills? (With Examples) which defines persistence as “a personality trait that is characterized by the determination to achieve a goal despite the obstacles and delays that you may encounter” and “a soft skill that is important for professionals because your ability to overcome challenges will give you confidence, endear you to your coworkers, and open up new opportunities”. It then suggests ways to improve this attribute.
I also like this Dale Carnegie blog Persistence Visualising Where You Want To Go - 7 Ways to Build the Muscle of Persistence which include:
- Start with a clear vision.
- Fall in love with the journey, not just the destination.
- Have courage to fail.
in every industry, in every culture, there’s one consistent trend among successful individuals, and that trend is the ability to persevere.
It observes But this is not always natural; it’s a learned trait and goes on to cite examples of famous people who persevered, one of which struck me in particular:
Take Abraham Lincoln, for example. He failed in business at the age of 21. He was defeated in a legislative race at age 22, failed again at business at age 24, overcame the death of his lover at age 26, had a nervous breakdown at age 27, lost a congressional race at 34 and 36, lost a senatorial race at 45, failed to become vice president at 47, lost a senatorial race at 49, and then finally was elected president of the United States of America at age 52.
I found this Harvard Business School article Giving Up Is the Enemy of Creativity which states Recent research of ours finds that one common factor often gets in the way: we tend to undervalue the benefits of persistence. It demonstrates by experiments how much more creative people can be if they persist with a creative task after seemingly running out of ideas citing the following examples.
Consider that Sir James Dyson developed over 5,000 prototypes before he patented his best-selling Dyson vacuum cleaner. Or that Walt Disney animated cartoons for nearly two decades before his first big hit, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
And see These 17 Quotes Will Inspire you to Be More Persistent of which I particularly like:
"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin.
"Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning." - Denis Waitley the American motivational speaker.
"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill.
So, to quote the old saying If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again then like me with my filing cabinet you will eventually succeed.
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