Perseverance and Consancy in Work
Chapter 16 of Working Your Way into Heaven focuses on perseverance and constancy in work. Cardinal Wyszynski begins by emphasizing the importance of having a goal or goals. Perseverance and constancy assist us in accomplishing our goal.
Perseverance is basically persistence toward a goal.
"It is a prudent, constant, and continual persistence in a rationally taken decision to strive toward some desired good."
Its important that you have goals for your work. Next week we commence with our annual series on setting goals for the coming year. If you already have clearly defined goals, this series can serve as a means to freshen up those goals, to be sure they continue to serve their purpose, perhaps to introduce new goals if that makes sense. If you don't have clearly defined goals - "a rationally taken decision to strive toward some desired good" - here's your opportunity to create some meaningful goals for your business - and for your life in general.
Note the emphasis on "rational" goals. Cardinal Wyszynski understands that when it comes to pursuing worthy goals, emotions can get in the way. By rationally and prudently setting worthy goals, we can more easily keep emotion at bay.
"Perseverance can be interpreted in three ways: as a state of mind in which we steadfastly resist sadness, as a decision to "stick it ourt" and as the actual carrying through of our work to the end. Perseverance therefore expresses not only a state of mind but also a state of will."
The will is key here. At times I may face a task or series of tasks that appear either too difficult, too boring, even somewhat confusing as to the purpose they serve. But if I know that these tasks serve a goal rationally conceived, I can more assuredly use my will to begin working on them, setting aside any of the emotion that can cause procrastination. At least that's how things should proceed.
Constancy helps us strive to accomplish our goal no matter the obstacles.
But even with the best of intentions, once begun, we may still run the risk of being thrown off track.
"Almost every type of activity and work has its highest point of tension, its peak of hardship, which we fear...the virtue of constancy embraces in one wide sweep all the difficulties that may come up in the course of our work. It instills in us faithfulness to our plans and intentions - in spit of everything; not matter what may happen. The difficulties are not hidden from us; we do not know whether they will be temporary or protracted, slight and nagging or violent and sudden, and it is all the same to us. Armed with constancy, we calmly await even the most unpleasant surprises."
Daily work requires both perseverance and constancy.
"Before any work, we have to make the decision to push on to the goal pointed out to us by reason."
There's that focus again on our will and on the need for our goals to have been formed rationally. The rational character of our goal will satisfy our intellect. We want to be sure the goal makes sense: that its accomplishment is both possible given our skills and the time allotted to it, as well as being consistent with the nature and purpose of the business we're in. With that assurance, our will takes over and we commence working.
Once we get going, though, it's not uncommon to encounter the following sequence:
"...we usually begin any new undertaking in the right disposition...sadness usually comes later when the difficulties of the work mount up: then we start giving in to our changing moods and want to shake off our oppressive duty. Now our sense of duty is put to the test. Temptations arise: the longing for new work, unfaithfulness in the work we have already undertaken or that has been entrusted to us, the desire for a change of occupation and this, sometimes, for some quite trivial reason...
"The good aim, the thoughtfully reached decision, and the intended good: all are forgotten and tend rather to increase our anguish of soul.
"We have then to call on the values arising from the two virtues in question, perseverance and constancy. They keep us on the path of fidelity and uprightness both in relation to ourselves and to the people who trust us."
Consistent with all the other virtues that we apply to our work, perseverance and constancy need cultivation. As with any virtue, we look to develop the habit of applying them. But once the habit is developed we can call on them to help us diligently perform our duties for the welfare of our families, the benefit of our employer and our customers, and, ultimately, for the greater glory of God.
Our posts, spread out over the past couple of years, about Working Your Way into Heaven by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski have given all of us a deeper understanding of the nature of work. They have also provided helpful advice and guidance to make us better workers and better human beings. We haven't covered every last lesson this great book offers, so I encourage you to read the whole thing on your own. You won't regret it.
Perseverance is basically persistence toward a goal.
"It is a prudent, constant, and continual persistence in a rationally taken decision to strive toward some desired good."
Its important that you have goals for your work. Next week we commence with our annual series on setting goals for the coming year. If you already have clearly defined goals, this series can serve as a means to freshen up those goals, to be sure they continue to serve their purpose, perhaps to introduce new goals if that makes sense. If you don't have clearly defined goals - "a rationally taken decision to strive toward some desired good" - here's your opportunity to create some meaningful goals for your business - and for your life in general.
Note the emphasis on "rational" goals. Cardinal Wyszynski understands that when it comes to pursuing worthy goals, emotions can get in the way. By rationally and prudently setting worthy goals, we can more easily keep emotion at bay.
"Perseverance can be interpreted in three ways: as a state of mind in which we steadfastly resist sadness, as a decision to "stick it ourt" and as the actual carrying through of our work to the end. Perseverance therefore expresses not only a state of mind but also a state of will."
The will is key here. At times I may face a task or series of tasks that appear either too difficult, too boring, even somewhat confusing as to the purpose they serve. But if I know that these tasks serve a goal rationally conceived, I can more assuredly use my will to begin working on them, setting aside any of the emotion that can cause procrastination. At least that's how things should proceed.
Constancy helps us strive to accomplish our goal no matter the obstacles.
But even with the best of intentions, once begun, we may still run the risk of being thrown off track.
"Almost every type of activity and work has its highest point of tension, its peak of hardship, which we fear...the virtue of constancy embraces in one wide sweep all the difficulties that may come up in the course of our work. It instills in us faithfulness to our plans and intentions - in spit of everything; not matter what may happen. The difficulties are not hidden from us; we do not know whether they will be temporary or protracted, slight and nagging or violent and sudden, and it is all the same to us. Armed with constancy, we calmly await even the most unpleasant surprises."
Daily work requires both perseverance and constancy.
"Before any work, we have to make the decision to push on to the goal pointed out to us by reason."
There's that focus again on our will and on the need for our goals to have been formed rationally. The rational character of our goal will satisfy our intellect. We want to be sure the goal makes sense: that its accomplishment is both possible given our skills and the time allotted to it, as well as being consistent with the nature and purpose of the business we're in. With that assurance, our will takes over and we commence working.
Once we get going, though, it's not uncommon to encounter the following sequence:
"...we usually begin any new undertaking in the right disposition...sadness usually comes later when the difficulties of the work mount up: then we start giving in to our changing moods and want to shake off our oppressive duty. Now our sense of duty is put to the test. Temptations arise: the longing for new work, unfaithfulness in the work we have already undertaken or that has been entrusted to us, the desire for a change of occupation and this, sometimes, for some quite trivial reason...
"The good aim, the thoughtfully reached decision, and the intended good: all are forgotten and tend rather to increase our anguish of soul.
"We have then to call on the values arising from the two virtues in question, perseverance and constancy. They keep us on the path of fidelity and uprightness both in relation to ourselves and to the people who trust us."
Consistent with all the other virtues that we apply to our work, perseverance and constancy need cultivation. As with any virtue, we look to develop the habit of applying them. But once the habit is developed we can call on them to help us diligently perform our duties for the welfare of our families, the benefit of our employer and our customers, and, ultimately, for the greater glory of God.
Our posts, spread out over the past couple of years, about Working Your Way into Heaven by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski have given all of us a deeper understanding of the nature of work. They have also provided helpful advice and guidance to make us better workers and better human beings. We haven't covered every last lesson this great book offers, so I encourage you to read the whole thing on your own. You won't regret it.
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