"That which we persist in doing . . . not that the nature of the thing changes. . . ." We are all familiar with that line. It was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson and often quoted by Heber J. Grant, the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Grant would usually accompany the Emerson quote with the following story:
“When I joined a base ball club, the boys of my own age, and a little older, played in the first nine, those younger than myself played in the second, and those still younger in the third, and I played with them. One of the reasons for this was that I could not throw the ball from one base to the other; another reason was that I lacked physical strength to run or bat well. When I picked up a ball, the boys would generally shout, ‘Throw it here, sissy!’ So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play base ball in the nine that would win the championship of the Territory of Utah.
“My mother was keeping boarders at the time for a living, and I shined their boots until I saved a dollar, which I invested in a base ball. I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at a neighbor’s barn, which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practicing, and finally succeeded in getting into the second nine of our club. Subsequently I joined a better club, and eventually played in the nine that won the championship of the Territory. Having thus made good my promise to myself, I retired from the base ball arena.”
Young Heber continued to practice persistence in other areas, such as penmanship, grammar and singing.
"From the time I was a child of nine, I tried to sing. I tried time and time again without any apparent success. When I was about forty-three years of age, I had a private secretary with a beautiful baritone voice. I told him I would give anything in the world if I could only carry a tune. He laughed and said, ‘Anybody who has a voice and perseverance can sing.’ I immediately appointed him as my singing teacher.
“My singing lessons started that night. At the end of two hours’ practice I still couldn’t sing one line from the song we had been practicing. After practicing that one song for more than five thousand times, I made a mess of it when I tried to sing it in public. I practiced it for another six months. Now I can learn a song in a few hours.”
Throughout his life, President Grant sought continual improvement, believing that “every individual can improve from day to day, from year to year, and have greater capacity to do things as the years come and the years go.” As Bryant S. Hinckley put it, “he never criticized other men’s weaknesses but made war on his own.”
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.”
I was struck this week by the truth of Emerson's statement. As I wrote at my other blog, The Whole Missionary, I have been working in a call center. "A call center was the absolute last place I ever wanted to work, yet here I am and, perhaps even more surprising, I might actually be good at it." I wrote that back in September, when I was still in training. As part of what is called nesting, I had just finished my first week of 8 hour shifts on the phone.
I had started training back in June. One of the things that put my mind at ease when I started was that the training course would last 11 weeks. To answer the concerns and questions of the customers, agents need to have a strong understanding of health insurance and the resources they use to find answers. In addition to learning about the business, I had to prepare myself for the idea of answering phones all day, every day. I have done phone work before, mostly reception work, and it has never been something I have enjoyed.
Training completed on the second day of October, and the reward for graduating was mandatory overtime -- and a Kit Kat bar. Mandatory overtime is a fact of life in a call center, and it meant seven additional hours on the phones each week through October. But the kicker came in November with two straight weeks of ten hour days. There were long, frustrating days with angry callers and challenging problems. Some problems could not be solved, but the greatest challenge, for me, might have been trying to make small talk with the callers. But the experience paid off.
One day this week I scored two 100 percents on post call surveys, back to back, which led the entire floor for the day. Despite my often futile attempts at small talk, I must have been doing something right. Then, yesterday, I was asked to walk the floor and help other agents with concerns or questions they had while talking calls. I was a coach for a day because the one of the actual coaches called in sick. My supervisor had asked me the day before if I would be willing to walk the floor one day next week. He said I was his best agent and a shoe-in to become a coach the next time there are promotions. I was stunned.
I have been working hard, and I have notices improvement, but I figured I still had some things to work on. They say that a good portion of success is showing up, and that may be true because my supervisor is always thanking me for my 100% attendance. In the nearly 6 months that I have been at this, from training to production, I haven't missed a single minute.
Now, I am not saying any of this to brag. I only wish to agree with Emerson and President Grant. Persistence, discipline and commitment are essential ingredients in the recipe for success. If I can do it, anyone can.
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.”
Sources:
Cox, D. P. (2015). "You Must Do the Thing You Think You Cannot Do". The Whole Missionary. http://thewholemissionary.blogspot.com/2015/09/you-must-do-thing-you-think-you-cannot.html
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, (2011)
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-heber-j-grant/chapter-4?lang=eng#1-35970_000_008
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