One of the most inspiring stories from the world of music comes from the rock band, the Foo Fighters.

Dave Grohl was the drummer for the mega-successful band Nirvana. He was already an established musician in his own right. But when the lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, committed suicide in 1994, nobody expected Dave Grohl to form his own band and take on the role of a songwriter and lead singer.

By that point, Grohl had been writing and recording songs for a long time. So, the very next year, in 1995, he released the first Foo Fighters album. Not only did he write the songs, he also played all the instruments himself.

By 1999, the Foo Fighters consisted of a full band and had released two more albums. In the following years, they continued to grow in popularity despite changing styles in pop radio. Now, the Foo Fighters are one of the most recognizable and popular rock bands in the world.

There is a simple lesson here: persistence pays off.

For Dave Grohl, success did not come easy. Even though he had already been in a successful band, there were no guarantees. He had to prove himself all over again.

Yet, he persisted. He kept doing what he loved and assumed that his hard work would eventually pay off.

Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success.”

Success may be far off, or it may be just around the corner. But one thing is for sure: it will never happen if you quit.

Why? Because the thing that makes you successful is your persistence, and you carry that around with you wherever you go.

Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Keep plugging away. One day you’ll look back and say, “I never knew I was so close to success.”

Today’s Challenge: What are you tempted to quit right now? What would it look like for you to keep going for one more month on that project?