Why Learned Industriousness is the BEST

In researching ‘Persistence’ this week, I ran across a word I really loved: Learned Industriousness.

Learned: you’ve picked up the idea along the way.

Industriousness: work.

It just so happens that the benefits of Learned Industriousness and Perseverance are a parent’s wish list for their child.

Incidentally, I also view this list as basically what Life Coaching does for clients. Learned Industriousness is Life Coaching’s bread-and-butter. You could say that people hire a life coach specifically to learn how to be more industrious in the face of challenges or setbacks.

Here’s a list of benefits:

1. Achieve goals. Really a no-brainer. You know you expected this benefit, but not so much in your face right off the bat. And it sort of begets the chicken and the egg, or the circular argument, if you achieve goals, you’ll be more persistent. If you are more persistent, you’ll achieve goals. So what can you do to break into the cycle? Hire a life coach.
2. Increased Enjoyment. I’ve got to admit. I didn’t see this one coming. Persistence increases enjoyment. The more frustrated you become, the more distraught and pushed to your utter limits of what you can handle, the more you just want to run screaming in the other room, pound your fits on the table, worry yourself sick, angst over not being able to finish the project the more glorious it feels when you’ve accomplished your goal.
3. Improve Skills and Resourcefulness. Another one of Life Coaching’s bread-and-butter. Doing your best doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing everything possible. People usually fail because you don’t think you can {link to fear of failure} It means that you are doing or have done everything you’ve thought about and are reasonably comfortable doing. Comfort zones are a big deal, and trying new things is sometimes scary. Here’s the reason why those things are scary.

Bottom-line: people who learn to keep working in the face of adversity, create a positive upward cycle of increased creativity, accomplishment, and joy.

It’s science.

Also read: The Secret Sauce of Success: the Process