I hesitated to write a piece titled “F-ing Persist,” but f-ng persist with it is what I did.

Why?

Because the message is too darn necessary to avoid a curse word (or two) for the sake of being appropriate. (Except for the fact that I have to stay within article guidelines and therefore, we will use "f-ing."

Persisting — it is something I (and many) have been doing our whole lives, and it is the reason for our success.

I am not saying that I am this famous, money-making entrepreneur. I am not defining success by the size of the paycheck I bring in each month. I am also not relating my “success” to the square footage of my house or the brand of my car (’cause my Chrysler ain’t nothing to write home about).

I am defining success as feeling financially stable, moderately happy, occasionally “balanced” and pretty proud of the work and children I am putting out into this world.

And who or what can I thank for my success? Myself and my ability to f-ing persist despite any and all obstacles I encounter.

Persistence is something I was taught from a very young age and even more than being discussed with me, it was modeled for me.

With a father who was a bond trader and mother who was a teacher, I was raised by two people working their absolute tails off to provide for my siblings and me. Not only did they ensure we had a constant roof (and a nice one, at that) over our heads and food (plenty of it because we are Italian, c’mon) on our table, but they also never failed to present us with opportunities.

What else did they do? They equipped us with the emotional, social and mental intelligence required to become a well-rounded, well-versed, kind, witty, humble and “successful” human beings.

Because of how I was raised and by whom, I live by the motto “never give up” and this mentality to f-ing persist despite your actual or perceived shortcomings, rejections, fears, anxiety, judgment, status has helped me reach the state of being pretty darn content.

“Pretty darn content?” you question me.

Who wants to settle for that?

Don’t we all want to be deliriously happy and insanely successful?

Maybe many do and yes, of course, I would like to make more money, have a bigger house, and take more vacations, but all of those things don’t mean I will feel as balanced and as gratified as I do now.

In my humble opinion, which many of you will tout as juvenile, naive or even idiotic, I assert that the best trait any of us can have, maintain, and hold on to, is persistence. It is also one of the most crucial and vital qualities you should aim to instill in your child.

When you make a choice to persist, and persist, and to keep persisting, you cannot fail. Yes, you may persist, and persist, and persist and bug the shiitake out of whoever is in the vicinity of your persistence. Yes, people may still reject you, they may blacklist you, they may scream from the rooftop for you to stop persisting.

BUT, THAT IS NOT FAILING.

Should you stop?

At that point yes, but only in your persistence towards them. Keep persisting, but aim your persistence towards a different person or a new goal.

I cannot voice strongly enough just how much persistence can and will pay off, but if you never try this method of f-ing persisting till you are blue in the face, you are risking a life that can reach its full potential.

You know what else I love about persistence? It’s so incredibly motivating. It’s invigorating, it’s a bit scary, but in a good way and it’s challenging. Persistence forces you out of your comfort zone while forcing others in your midst out of theirs, as well.

Persistence is attractive; unless you are a stalker and then it’s gross and criminal. But, the fact is, that there is nothing more interesting and enticing — to a potential suitor, a stranger, a potential employer or your family and friends — than someone who is impassioned and doesn’t give up on what they know they need and want to be happy.

My advice to you and me and to future generations who can tolerate an appropriately-placed curse word: Let’s all keep f-ing persisting.

That’s how we will change ourselves for the better.

That’s how we will inspire others to change for the better.

That’s how we will make the world better — by f-ing persisting one person at a time.