1. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
PERSISTENCE AND
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Nell Watson
29th July 2014

2. PART I - WHY FOUNDERS
CREATE
“What is to give life must endure
burning.” – Viktor Frankl

3. Founder: Someone who creates a new
engine through which the world is
shaped.

4. The urge to Found is born from
pain.

5. Founders are outsiders.

6. Founders have something to
prove.

7. Not worth it unless:

8. Not worth it unless:

9. Not worth it unless:

10. ‘Extraordinary’ Doesn’t Just
Happen

11. PART II - WHY FOUNDERS FAIL
“Success is not final, failure is not
fatal: It is the courage to continue
that counts.” – WINSTON
CHURCHILL

17. “WE’RE FUCKED; IT’S OVER.
BEN HOROWITZ –
THE HARD THING ABOUT HARD
THINGS

19. Martin Seligman
“Learned Helplessness”

23. PANIC & PAIN
FAILURE TO
EXECUTE
PERCEPTUAL
BIASES
DESPAIR &
DREAD
GIVE UP
& GIVE IN
VOLITIONAL
PARALYSIS

24. NOT A MATTER OF WILLPOWER

27. A BEAUTIFUL SERVANT
A DANGEROUS MASTER

28. “There is little that can withstand a
man who can conquer himself” -
Louis X1V
PART III – KEEP YOUR HEAD

29. PANIC & PAIN
PERCEPTUAL
BIASES
DESPAIR &
DREAD
GIVE UP
& GIVE IN
VOLITIONAL
PARALYSIS
FAILURE TO
EXECUTE

30. Our emotions are led
by our perceptions.

31. The sensation of having
control is everything.

32. LACK OF CHOICE IS AN
ILLUSION
“Between stimulus and response there is a
space.
In that space is our power to choose our
response.

33. MINDFULNESS & SELF
KNOWLEDGE

35. “I SUCK AT ‘X”’
Only for now. Everyone
is
on a growth curve.

36. “ENOUGH STRUGGLE
ALREADY”
A comfortable life is one
lacking in learning

37. “EVERYTHING IS RUINED”
Plans usually go awry.
So you can plan for it.

38. “I FEEL HUMILIATED”
This only matters if
you think it matters. .

39. “I HAVE FAILED. I AM A
FAILURE”
Failure, with learning, is
the only path to
success.

40. “I FAILED TOO BIG THIS
TIME”
You fail fatally
when you stop trying.

41. “IT’S JUST TOO HARD”
It usually does get
better if you just keep
going.

42. • MISTREATED & IGNORED
• ECONOMY SUCKS
• NOT GETTING SUPPORT
• NOT ENOUGH MONEY
• STUCK IN A RUT
GOOD THINGS ABOUT TOUGH
TIMES

43. CULTIVATE AN IMMUNITY
TO BEING DEMORALIZED

44. When you are able to succeed at easy
tasks,
hard tasks feel possible to accomplish.
When you are unable to succeed at
small tasks, everything seems
impossible.
RECOVERY FROM BURNOUT

45. Take small actions (like making your
bed)
Taking action bolsters belief
in one’s ability to succeed
Rest!
Call it a success
Do a little more each day
COLLECT SMALL WINS

46. PART IV – A TALE OF
PERSISTENCE
“Whoever, at any time has undertaken
to build a new heaven, has found the
strength for it in his own hell” – Friedrich
Nietzsche

47. Frédéric Bartholdi

48. 1856
Frédéric Bartholdi

49. 1865
Frédéric Bartholdi

51. Frédéric BartholdiEdouard de Laboulaye
1865

52. “LIBERTY
ENLIGHTENING
THE WORLD”

55. 2 million francs /
$10,000000

57. MOCKERY

58. CHAMPS ELYSÉE,
PARIS

59. MADISON
SQUARE
GARDENS,
NYC

60. VIA
PHILADELPIA?

63. 1879
Eugene Violette-le-duc

64. Gustave Eiffel

66. Gustave Eiffel
18821880

67. HURRY UP
AND WAIT

69. FURTHER
MOCKERY

70. Joseph Pulitzer

71. 1856 – 1865 – 1875 – 1880 –
1886

72. MANIFEST A DREAM STRATEGIC DETERMINATION
CAPTURE & PROVE VALUE
INVOLVE OTHERS
SHIP ITKEEP YOUR COOL

73. CLOSING THOUGHTS
‘He knows the "why" for his
existence, and will be able to bear
almost any "how.”’
– VIKTOR FRANKL

74. WHAT: PEOPLE BOOST YOU THE
MOST?
CLOSING THOUGHTS
WHEN: MOST AT YOUR PERSONAL
BEST?WHEN: LOWEST TIMES IN YOUR
LIFE?
WHAT: GIVES YOU
ENERGY?
WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO
GIVE TO THE WORLD?
WHAT: PEOPLE DRAIN YOU THE
MOST?
WHAT VALUES ARE IMPORTANT TO
YOU?

75. NELL@POIKOS.COM
Nell Watson, Founder & CEO, Poikos
Thanks for participating!
@FounderNell