Relentlessness: Successful People Just Don't Quit

Harrison Ford was told by movie execs that he “didn’t have what it takes” to be a leading man.

by Rod D. Martin
Inc. Magazine
July 29, 2015

Relentless. If there is any word that describes successful people, that’s it. Successful people just don’t quit.

Does this seem obvious? Perhaps; but it obviously isn’t. The quality of unceasing determined force-of-nature-like unstopability is not merely rare: it shocks people when they see it.

You don’t have to be a cinematic action hero to reap the benefits of relentless effort. Let’s just take one example: language learning.

If you’re like most Americans, you took two years of some foreign language – probably French or Spanish – in high school. You probably did it again in college. And if you’re like most people, you’re lucky if you can remember “taco,” “burrito” and “baño.”

You probably think you’re bad at learning languages. You probably think some people are gifted at leaning languages, and you’re “just not one of them.” And that may even be true.

But it’s also completely irrelevant.

Learning a language is about relentlessness. Your teachers p…