Awhile back, I received an email from a woman asking if I could help her get an audition for a Broadway show. She was a very nice lady, and I’m sure a very talented performer, but my role as an actor on Broadway does not give me any influence or sway whatsoever in who gets cast. In fact, it would probably be inappropriate for me to try and meddle in casting affairs at all.

I explained this to her in my reply, and encouraged her to send a headshot and resumer to several casting offices, a direction that would undoubtably be more appropriate and profitable for her.

Later that same day, I received a reply from her in which she strongly reinitiated her previous request. “I just cannot give up on my dream that easy,” she said. I told her once again that while I admired her determination, it simply was not appropriate, or even possible, for me to do what she was asking. Our exchange continued in this way, back and forth, three or four more times before I was able to convince her that if she wanted her dream to come true, she would be better off going a different route.

I hope that in telling this story I do not paint this woman as crazy or irrational. As I said, she was very nice and probably very talented. She had a dream, and she was doing to “persist” until she achieved it. I have great respect for that.

Here is what she, and most of us, don’t realize about persistence though: Persistence does not mean continually running into a dead end, hoping it will magically transform into an open road. Persistence means that no matter how many dead ends you run into, you still search for alternative routes. 

Adapting and looking for new ways to solve the problem, that’s being resilient. 

Refusing to change course, even when the way is obviously blocked off, that’s being stubborn. 

Don’t wait for the dead end to change into something it’s not. Recognize a dead end for what it is, change course, and find alternative routes.