Chaya here…

I gotta tell you, this is the 3^rd version of this post we’ve written this week, as we try to capture wisdom to share with you about the Power of Persistence (Topaz).

The others were written just after Jamie and I attended a 4-day long Tony Robbins event called Unleash the Power Within. Pumped up with an almost hyper-masculine drive to achieve, the first versions focused on tapping into the Power of Persistence to help you reach that goal that makes your heart beat a little faster, or become your industry’s leading expert, or to manifest anything, really.

And it is absolutely true, this determined energy is the key to keeping on when the inspiration for your goal is flagging, when the road seems uphill, you’ve had a setback, or maybe even a ‘failure’.

I certainly called on this energy a lot in my days as a competitive diver. When it was cold, and the winds were gusting, and I’d be standing backwards on the equivalent of a 3-story building wondering why on earth I was doing this crazy thing, bulldogged Persistence kept me going. Doing the next dive, getting coached, climbing the ladder again and again. 250,000 times over 21 years. Lots of consistent Topaz energy to push on toward the Olympic dream.

But I woke up today reminded of some valuable things I sometimes lose sight of when my Inner Olympian gets overactive and motivated (thanks this week to the remarkable empowerment of Tony Robbins).

While I cherish those years of pursuing my dreams, the travel, the memories, and the goals achieved, there are two big life lessons that came out of that for me, and I think both would be useful to share in this conversation about Persistence.

They are a little cliché by now, but hang in there with me.

The first is: You’ve got to enjoy the journey or reaching the goal won’t be worth anything. The second lesson, related to enjoying the journey, is this: Create balance in life.

There were years where I tapped into the discipline of the Power of Persistence, but I did it in a way that made me miserable. So single-mindedly determined to reach my goals, I didn’t have time for friendships; I not only ignored my body, I pushed it in obsessive ways that created serious injuries; I forced myself through fear without knowing how to process it, leaving me in need of years of healing and unwinding. I just pressed on.

And then a fantastic therapist entered my life and helped me turn things around with the idea of enjoying the journey, and discovering a balanced life.

The years that followed still required lots of Persistence. I still had to show up every day and do the dives and the weights and the Pilates and the mental training. But I learned to apply Persistence to a wider range – like self-love, self-care, friendships, fun, and enjoying the moment. Although we weren’t using words like mindfulness and presence in those days, at least in my world, that is what I was beginning to connect with. I’d go to practice and persistently tune into the beautiful sunshine, the laughter shared with teammates, the joy in the strength and ability of my body, the bliss at flying through the air. I persistently listened to my body, its needs, and my natural pacing.

It probably won’t surprise you that those were the years of the big successes.

So the Power of Persistence can be applied in many ways. If you need a little more fire, focus, energy, and drive, you can use the Power of Persistence to dig in and create daily habits that will stimulate that.

But if you’re needing more heart-opening, more compassion, more self-love and self-care, Topaz energy can help you there too, guaranteeing you a sure sense of success and accomplishment in becoming more of the person you wish to be.

And as I think about it now, at the end of this version 3, you can pretty much apply the Power of Persistence to any of the other Powers to help yourself create daily habits that will strengthen those powers and serve your life.

And even better, what would it be like to add some Persistence to the Powers in your own Vibrancy Signature? What would it be like to be more consistently true to yourself? The exercise below will help you explore these ideas.

In the end, maybe what I want to say most is this: let’s be determined and disciplined to persistently live in alignment with our soul’s calling and purpose.