Measure Your Degree of Persistence

Recently, Cal Newport over at Study Hacks wrote an interesting article where he claims that getting started is overrated. He argues that too many people get started without commitment.  As a result, they waste valuable time and energy on pursuits that they will give up after a few months of haphazard effort.  Action without persistence is a waste of time. Scott H young thinks it's useful to ask yourself what your level of commitment is to a project or goal before starting.  Measuring persistence isn't easy.  The only true way to know your persistence level is to work on a project and see when you give up.  If you quit a goal after two years, your degree of persistence is two years. Unfortunately, most of us don't have years of our lives to waste just to measure the level of commitment to a new project.  Although it won't measure the real thing, he think sthere is a thought experiment that comes pretty close to pinpointing the actual value. Pick any goal you want to measure your persistence for.  Now, ask yourself how long you would be willing to work on the goal, without any positive feedback.  How long would you be willing to work on a project, without being able to see any results from your efforts? That length of time, he believes, is a rough estimate of your commitment to a project.  Notice I didn't ask how long you would be willing to work on a project.