Push or Pivot? The Hidden Power of Behavioral Flexibility

You know what a lot of success-focused people get wrong?

Perseverance.

The drive to continue pursuing a goal in the face of discouragement, obstacles, or failure. The insistence on pushing through difficulties.

The resolve to follow through with a plan to the end.

It can pull you through tough times, and give you an edge over less determined competition. But it can also be your undoing if you confuse perseverance with its cousin… Perseveration.

While in pursuit of success, both perseverance and perseveration can include the resolve to follow through with a plan or maintain commitment to a strategy. The difference is that perseveration is when that plan or strategy is no longer a viable or valuable route to success. It is the insistence on staying the course when that course does not reasonably and responsibly lead to your goal.

What turns perseverance into perseveration? Lack of flexibility.

Behavioral flexibility is the ability to shift or change strategies to meet the needs of a dynamic environment. It is the reason humans as a species have conquered the world. Not our intelligence, although that helps. Certainly not our strength. It’s our flexibility.

And it is this same flexibility that each of us can harness toward our own personal and professional benefit.

Yes, be dogged and unrelenting in the pursuit of a goal. Be fierce in the commitment to progress and growth. Persevere.

But, as you do, be wary of an attachment to any one particular tactic. Be willing to let go of strategies when they no longer serve you. Embrace flexibility. Succeed.