Diligence, is the constant and earnest effort to accomplish whatever is undertaken (Dictionary.com). Diligence is also the steady application of effort to accomplish a task. 

At the heart of success in many endeavours is diligence. This is described by Atul Gawande in his book “Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance” as the necessity of giving sufficient attention to detail to avoid error or prevail against obstacles.

Publishing new blog posts at Leading like a Champion requires diligence on my part and while it has not been an easy task to achieve, it is very rewarding. So what does diligence mean in practice?

Diligence in Practice

• Diligence presupposes that you have a goal or task you are working towards. Since you do not have the energy to be diligent at everything, it makes sense to carefully choose your goals and tasks so that you can apply your limited time and effort towards its achievement.

• Diligence requires time and effort to yield results. Having decided on your goal, you must understand that it’s achievement will require effort also known as hard work. This reminds me of a phrase – ‘No bees, no honey. No work no money”

• Diligence rewards attention to detail, careful completion of repetitive and sometimes boring task and a determined commitment to finish what you have began.

 Do not spend your days gathering flowers by the wayside, lest night come upon you before you arrive at your journeys end, and then you will not reach it. ~ Isaac Watts. 

5 Reasons to Choose Diligence

1. A commitment to diligence will help you achieve great things in life. Do you have big dreams? Are you ambitious enough to want to make a difference in the world you live in? From history, we know that it was the commitment to diligence that helped Thomas Edison discover the light bulb after over two thousand unsuccessful experiments.

2. A commitment to diligence will reward you with expertise and authority. You will have had of the 10,000 hour rule made popular by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. Only the diligent can put in this required number of hours of purposeful practice to become an expert or authority in their field or profession. Only the diligent athlete can compete in the Olympic finals.

3. A commitment to diligence will help you creates success habits. There are no short cuts to success. You will benefit from a steady progress towards your goal as Muscles develop from a diligent application of weights. You grow to become a bigger and better person by the diligent effort you apply to your work and business.

4. A commitment to diligence will help you stay on track with your goals. Breaking down your larger goals into smaller specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound goals (SMART) increases the chances of your success.

5. A commitment to diligence keeps you clear of slothfulness, indifference and laziness. These three words will significantly affect your growth and development as a leader, an entrepreneur and valuable contributor at work.

So you have a goal that is worth your putting your limited resources to. Reap the rewards of diligence. Break down your goal or task into several smaller goals or subtask. Your subtasks need to be meaningful and the accomplishment of each step must bring you closer to the achievement of your overall goal. Start today on the first step and stick to the task until the task sticks to you.

Winning is by choice and not by chance, so never, never, never give up ~ Winston Churchill

How committed are you to achieving your goals?