Never give up

My favourite quote of all time is Persistence, by Calvin Coolidge. In just 62 inspirational words, the 30^th President of the United States lays down the ground rules for a fulfilling and successful life. “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence...” he begins.

Churchill said much the same thing, only this time in just five memorable words: “Never, never, never give up.”

Overnight success is rare, so rare that when it happens, we gobble up all the fascinating details, believing that one day it could happen to us. Look at Twiggy, little Leslie Hornby  from Neasden, who was discovered after hairdresser Leonard tried out his new style on the 16-year-old waif.  A photo of little Miss Hornby sporting Leonard’s new crop cut was spotted on the wall of his salon by a fashion journalist, and within weeks she was hailed in the national press as “The Face of ‘66”.

She was short by modelling standards, just 5ft 6ins, and her androgynous figure was worlds away from the elegant silhouette of the 1960s’ graduates of Lucie Clayton’s Modelling Academy. Yet Twiggy rose to become an icon of the modelling industry.

Another twist to this story is that Twiggy gave up modelling in 1970, aged just 20, at the height of her fame. She took a gamble and turned to acting and singing... and it paid off – two years later she won two Golden Globe awards for her role in The Boy Friend.

Twiggy is still very much in the public eye, she models alongside Myleene Klass for M&S, even though she’s 62 – and has recently released a CD of her favourite songs. She may have been an overnight success, but her persistence has helped her carve out a lifelong career.

Two decades after Twiggy’s discovery, Kate Moss was spotted in the departure lounge at JFK airport by a Storm model agency scout. She too was deemed  far too short to cut it, and was dubbed “the anti-supermodel of the 1990s”, but look at her now – an overnight success who, at 38, is still a fashion icon.

Now I’m not saying that Twiggy and Kate did it all by themselves – they obviously had people with great connections helping their rise to fame. However, the interesting thing about their stories is that they bucked the trend, seized the fame and used it to get what they wanted out of life.

For those not so lucky to get that helping hand at the start of their careers, persistence is even more important. Identify what it is you want to achieve and make sure everything you do – no matter how small – contributes towards that goal. Visualise your dreams then  start making them come true. Goals, after all, are simply dreams with legs on.

Persistence paid off for 2010 X-Factor winner Matt Cardle. His success may have seemed to have come from nowhere, after all he was working as a painter, postman, milkman, bricklayer, you name it, when he auditioned for X-Factor. Yet, behind the scenes, he was putting legs on those dreams by playing in venues all over the Eastern Counties, starting some five years before his X-Factor triumph.

I remember seeing him in 2006 with his band Darwyn, playing at Banham Cider Shed. It was obvious that he had talent, but then so do a lot of young musicians. He persisted though, kept writing his own material, kept believing in himself, and now, his debut album Letters has gone platinum.

A little luck goes a long way – but persistence is the secret ingredient that makes dreams come true. And now for that quote in full:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’  has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race.”
- Calvin Coolidge