“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” 

⁠You’ve likely seen this quote from Steve Jobs floating around social, especially if you’re in the online business space. I also have it saved in an Evernote folder with other inspirational quotes that I like to revisit from time to time, whenver I need a bit of a pep talk.

And whenver I see this quote, which seems to happen when I’m feeling a bit lie giving up, I always find myself thinking, “YES, just persevere!”

But I wonder how many of us equate perseverance to running ourselves into the ground: overworking, hustling for our worth, forgoing sleep and healthy habits (which happens to include rest)—all so we can feel like we’ve “made it” and can call ourselves successful.

I don’t think it’s a secret that we have a current entrepreneurial culture that gives you a badge of honor for working harder and sleeping less, something that Arianna Huffington has taken on personally.
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And the truth is? I’ve tried all of that. And through that personal experience, I’ve realized that I don’t want that badge of entrepreneurial honor.

Because I agree with Arianna: I don’t think we can be our brightest, move creative, most giving selves if we’re overworked, sleep-deprived, and hustling for our worth.

⁠Instead, I want to build a healthy, sustainable life that includes running a successful business. ⁠

So, I started wondering about this idea of perseverance and whether we can persevere without overworking.

So, being the English major that I once was, I did some research and looked up the definition of perseverance, which is defined as “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition; steadfastness.”⁠
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If we think about perseverance this way, can we remain steadfast while not running ourselves into the ground?⁠
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Absolutely! And I think we’d likely do it better if we didn’t overwork ourselves. ⁠
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So, yes, let’s persevere. Let’s not give up when things get difficult. Let’s find healthy and sustainable ways to continue working toward our goals. But let’s NOT equate perseverance to overworking.

I actually vote we forget that badge of honor altogether.⁠ It’ll likely be better for us all.