As my team battled through another away defeat last weekend against Milwaukee Wave it reminded us all how losing when playing well is the hardest situation to deal with as a player.

We have a 5-5 record at this time and sit second in the league. We play again at home on Saturday which is a game we need to win. It is going to be key that we now start to put wins together if we are looking to grab the top spot. We cannot afford to drop any more close games, especially at home.

The column this week is about persistence.

At some point in your life you will have many opportunities to quit. It may be in school, in the office or in sports, just trying to get to the top.

You may have a hard time with the family. You may just be tired of all the work you are putting into your life and seeing very few positives.

I ask what do you do when these obstacles come knocking on your door? What is your next step when the wall continues to get higher and success seems so far away?

Will you then pick up your stuff and give up? Will you decide that enough is enough and go home and feel that it is all over? Will you sit at home and feel that you cannot be anything? Or will you hope and feel life is unfair to you and the best way is to give in?

Or will you get back out there and continue to strive forward and challenge yourself to stand tall and overcome any adversities ahead?

It is impossible to succeed without developing the discipline of persistence.

Persistence is that little voice inside of you that commands you to move forward when everything inside is screaming at you to quit.

Many people I know have the desire but few have persistence. Of the goals that you have set out in life, many have been shortened due to not being persistent.

For example, I have seen many people begin training to lose weight only to abandon the programme after a few months. Some have looked to finish college or own their own business only to give up when it became difficult.

I have had friends who read motivational books, then apply some things in it but after just weeks totally forget its value.

To develop persistence you must choose which actions are worth continuing. You have to believe that you can see a positive at the end no matter how difficult the challenge becomes.

Your reward for being persistent will be there for you at the end, your character will be affected from your will to battle through the tough times.

At this very moment, there may be many of you who are living in a destructive and dangerous situation but know and feel that if you hang in there long enough you will see change and see that things are bound to get better.

There are even some out there who are hanging on to that last job knowing that they cannot stand what is going on but feel responsible enough to change things and look to make things better than to give up and be jobless.

After you determine that persisting is worth it, then you should decide to continue. It's that simple. When you eliminate the option of quitting, it makes persisting much easier.

Understand that persistence is a habit that can be learned. As you develop the trait of persistence, quitting is no option.

Remember to harden your will and put one foot in front of the other until you have overcome your fears of failing.

Until next time!